5 months ago
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The centuries-old temple vessel of the Sri Ranganathaperumal Temple successful Thiruneermalai, hardly 4 kilometres from Chromepet, is successful an alarming authorities of neglect. Devotees person urged the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department to initiate restoration measures up of the Vaikunta Ekadasi festival.
The tank, Manikarnika Theertham, attached to 1 of the 108 Vaishnavite Divya Desams, is contiguous covered by heavy layers of weeds.
Thorny shrubs enactment the steps starring into the water, portion unfastened sections of the tank’s compound let anti-social elements to participate the premises. Empty liquor bottles, garbage and debris litter the ineffable site.
Residents fearfulness that with Vaikunta Ekadasi owed successful precocious December, the footfall of devotees volition increase, adding to the discarded astir the tank.
Though the temple is simply a listed instauration with an yearly gross exceeding ₹1 crore, restoration of the vessel remains pending. Temple priests, who did not privation to beryllium named, said the tank’s information deteriorated aft Chithirai (mid-April).
A historical site
The temple analyzable hosts galore inscriptions from the Chola, Pandya and Vijayanagar periods. The sanction Neermalai, historians note, refers to the elevation often being surrounded by water.
Historian V. Sriram recalls that Thiruneermalai was a fashionable venue for elemental weddings successful the 20th Century, including the matrimony of M.S. Subbulakshmi and T. Sadasivam successful 1940, witnessed by The Hindu’s Kasturi Srinivasan.
It besides featured successful galore Tamil films earlier the temple authorities stopped granting support for shooting films, aft histrion Vijay’s Bhagavathi, to support its sanctity.
Environmentalists accidental regular clearing of weeds and recycling of h2o are indispensable to preserving the tank. Temple Executive Officer Muthuraja said an estimation of ₹63 lakh, prepared by departmental engineers for cleaning and desilting the tank, has been forwarded to the HR&CE Commissioner through Kancheepuram Joint Commissioner.
“The Secretary has assured america that support volition beryllium granted soon. Once sanctioned, enactment volition statesman immediately,” helium said.
