Condition of Hindus from around 1300CE to 1335CE.These 35 odd yrs can be described as perhaps the darkest phases of Indian history. For the 1st time in its existence the entire Indian sub-continent had been overrun by foreign savages.

Year 1336 marked the rise of Vijayanagara(1)

It is during this 35 odd years that some of the worst kind of savagery was unleashed. Especially on Hindus of Dakshina Bharat. Barbarian kafur undertook his temple breaking campaign during this period. Almost every single major temple town in Tamil Nadu was ransacked. (2)

Of all the Kshetras, Madurai in particular faced the worst of the onslaught of the savages. The Maduraittala Varalauru gives an account of the condition of the legendary Meenakashi temple during that period. (3)

Gangadevi, wife of Kumara Kampanna who was the warrior son of the 2nd emperor of Vijayanagara describes the pitiful state Madurai & other parts of TN found itself in. This was described in her work titled "Madura Vijayam" which she composed post the Hindu reconquest of Madurai(4)

Gangadevi describes in Madura Vijayam the final encounter between Kampanna & the last savage invader of Madurai, allahuddin sikandar. With this act Madurai was reclaimed & in the following years it would be restored to its original glory along with all other ransacked temples(5)

The Hindu reconquest of Madurai remains one of the greatest pieces of Hindu history that often goes untold. Its a story that gives immense hope in the face of most uncertain of times.

Source: Further sources of Vijayanagara history by Nilakanta Sastri.

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