Samanar Hills (Samanar Malai)

Samanar Hills is Madurai's best-known Jain heritage hill. This guide covers the inscriptions and carvings and flags the access details we could not verify.

Samanar Hills, also called Samanar Malai, lies near Vadivelkari village about 10 km west of Madurai. 'Samanar' comes from the Sanskrit sramana (ascetic) and the hill is a Jain hill. The Archaeological Survey of India protects the site, which has Jain and Hindu monuments from the 2nd century BCE to the 12th century CE. There are Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions, Vatteluttu inscriptions of the 9th and 10th centuries and a Kannada inscription of the 11th–12th century at the summit.

The hill once had 12 stone beds used by monks, damaged by quarrying and collapses. Commons photographs show Jain carvings and a Karuppu Sami shrine on the hill, and the summit gives a view across the Madurai plain. We found no fee or hours information; the site is open air and access conditions can change, so check locally before going.