"Madurai, ranked among the oldest cities in south India, had an unbroken history going back to prehistoric times. Several legends were associated with the city. According to the sthala puranas, when sage Agastya was at Banaras, the rishis requested him to relate the sixty-four lilas of Shiva (Sundaresvara) on the banks of the Vegavati (Vaigai) river. Agastya then lauded the glories of Madurai. In popular lore, the word Madurai was the Tamil form of Mathura, the holy city on the Jumna in northern India. The name could also have derived from the Tamil word madhuram, meaning sweetness."