Simmakkal is a neighbourhood in

Madurai district Madurai district is one of the Districts of Tamil Nadu, 38 districts of the States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu in southeastern India., National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Ag ...

in the state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Simmakkal as meant in the language of Tamil, 'Stone statue of Lion', has a statue at the heart of the neighbourhood. During the British period, out of the four giant walls on East Veli Street, West Street, North Veli Street and South Veli Street already existed, three of them except on West Veli Street were demolished by 'Marret', the then Collector of Madurai. The landmark at the entrance gate of North Veli Street was simply replaced by a 'Stone statue of Lion' found near Thirumalai Naicker Mahal. It is that area surrounding the statue is called as 'Simmakkal'.

Location

Located at an elevation of 158 m above the mean sea level, Simmakkal has the geographical coordinates of: 9°55'34.0"N, 78°07'17.4"E (i.e. 9.9261°N, 78.1215°E).

Neighbourhoods

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

, Yanaikkal, Sellur, Goripalayam, Nelpettai, East Gate, Arappalayam are some of the important places nearby.

Education

Schools

Athimoolam Corporation Primary School is located in Simmakkal, where the Tamil Nadu CM Stalin, on 15 September 2022, launched 'School breakfast programme' in government schools, for students studying in class 1 to class 5. The scheme commemorated the 115th birth anniversary of former CM of Tamil Nadu, C. N. Annadurai, who founded the DMK. Umarupulavar Corporation School is also in Simmakkal.

Sethupathi Higher Secondary School Sethupathi Higher Secondary School is a school situated in Madurai, Tamilnadu, in India. The school was founded by Baskara Sethupathi (1889–1903). It is one of the oldest schools in Madurai and celebrated its 125th year anniversary in 2014. Ad ...

where

Subramania Bharati C. Subramania Bharathi Birth name: C. Subramaniyan, the person's given name: Subramaniyan, father's given name: Chinnaswami. (C. Subramaniyan by the prevalent patronymic initials as prefix naming system in Tamil Nadu and it is Subramaniyan C ...

taught students, is situated at a reachable distance of 1 km from Simmakkal.

Colleges

American College, Madurai The American College, often referred to as American College, is one of the oldest colleges in India, located in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded in 1881 by American Christian missionaries. The red-brick buildings, in the Saracenic style, ...

in Goripalayam, Sri Meenakshi Government Arts College for Women in Goripalayam and

Madurai Medical College Madurai Medical College is a medical school attached to the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. The hospital provides tertiary care to more than twenty million people in the southern part of Tamil Nadu. The hospital was es ...

near Anna Bus Stand are some of the important colleges that benefit students from Simmakkal area.

District Central Library

There is a Government district central library in Simmakkal. The state government allotted a fund of ₹36 lakh for procuring books on traditional art forms such as 'Kavadiyattam', 'Mayilattam', 'Kolattam' and 'Karagattam'. And an exclusive wing is established for keeping books mentioned above.

Transport

Road transport

Simmakkal is very well connected to various places of Madurai and other districts by roads. North Veli Street, East Veli Street, Masi streets, Marret streets are some of the important nearby streets that are filled with commodity businesses. It has a ground level bridge that was constructed across the Vaigai river which goes flooded with rain water when it rains heavily. During such times, the vehicle traffic is considerably affected.

Rail transport

Madurai Junction railway station Madurai Junction railway station (station code: MDU) is a railway station in South India and the primary railway station serving the city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu. The station is the headquarters of the Madurai railway division of the Southern ...

is just 2 km from Simmakkal.

Air transport

From Simmakkal,

Madurai International Airport Madurai Airport is a customs airport serving Madurai and its adjoining districts in Tamil Nadu, India. It is the 36th busiest airport in India, both in terms of passengers handled and aircraft movement. The airport is located near State Highwa ...

at Avaniyapuram is located at about 10 km.

Medical facilities

Government Rajaji Hospital Government Rajaji Hospital is situated in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. The hospital provides tertiary care to more than twenty million people in the southern part of Tamil Nadu. The hospital was formerly known as Erskines Hospital. The hospital w ...

which is located at a km from Simmakkal serve the community better.

Religion

Temples

Pechi Amman temple and Adhi Chokkanathar temple are the important temples in Simmakkal. Adhi Chokkanathar temple is said to be the basic temple of Meenakshi Temple, Madurai which is located at a walkable distance from Simmakkal. It has the main deities as Chokkanathar and Meenakshi. With the Viruksha as Kadamba tree and Theertha as Pottamarai Theertha, it is also called as North Alavai.

References

{{Reflist Neighbourhoods and suburbs of Madurai