Madurai, called as the temple city of South India and is also a tourist attraction.This place is also known for its jasmine flowers, jigarthanda and most importantly the  sungudi sarees.

Madurai Sungudi Sarees is a 100% pure cotton where the products are made by the Saurashtrians using the traditional tie-dye method. The Saurashtrians from Saurashtra, Gujarat migrated, due to the invasions, to Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Some of them settled down in Madurai, where the local king of the Nayak dynasty welcomed them since 16th century. Here, they came to be known as “Patnūlkarars” (silk thread people). . The Saurashtrians of Madurai, who were expert craftsmen in fabric weaving and trade of silk garments, created a gift item of cotton fabric suited for use in the tropical conditions, and called it the “Madurai Sungudi.”The Nayak of Madurai has patroned the sungudi sarees and the sourashtran community weave sarees for the royals of the nayak kings, where they are also learned vedas and become pandit , they worked as ministers in the kings palace.In Saurashtra, the word ‘sungudi’ relates to the Sanskrit word “sunnam” meaning “round”, representing the circular dots that are printed on the fabric as a prominent and special motif. While the dotted designs of the fabric are inspired by cosmic stars. Thus, sungudi actually means ‘ringed dots’. These ringed dots are spread all over the saree due to which it gives a unique and special appearance to the saree.

The making of Sungudi textiles requires a lot of patience and is completely dependent on manual labour and it takes 10-15 days to make traditional sungudi saree. Madurai sungudi sarees is famous for its tie-dye work where they are fully handmade by master artisians. The Sungudi units are kept alive by less than 300 artisans and weavers of Sourashtra community.

​Nowadays, women prefer to wear these sarees due to its soft fabric which enhance the aesthetic look and have become a favorite among women of all age groups. Especially summer is the best time for wearing sungudi sarees. In our climate, doctors have advised that it is the best to wear cotton sungudi sarees through out the year. Sungudi sarees have Bandhani pattern which is lightweight and comfortable for all age groups. Also its been exported to the Indians in abroad who majorly loves to follow their tradition with sungudi sarees on special occations.

In the past generation, only the natural colors were used in sungudi sarees. Attractive colors like red, deep yellow, maroon, burgundy, deep blue colors were used for dyeing. Nowadays with the modern techniques around, even artificial colors are used for the sarees. This overall evolution in the case of Madurai sungudi sarees has made it more loved among its customers. Many new methods are introduced with addition to the traditional sungudi tie-dye technique where kalamkari sarees being manufactured at present.