Sri
Madurai Meenakshi amman temple is a very famous temple ~ it would only be
appropriate to say that people visit Madurai for worshipping the Goddess and it
is not people visiting Madurai have darshan at this temple.
It stands adding lustre
to the Temple town of Madurai ~ the great Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple – aka –
Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, located on the south banks of river
Vaigai. The presiding deity is Goddess
Meenakshi, a form of Parvathi and her consort Sundareeswarar, the manifestation
of Shiva. The Temple has pride of place
in Sangam literature.
The Temple is many
many centuries old - the present campus
structure was rebuilt after the 14th century CE, further repaired, renovated and
expanded in the 17th century
by great ruler Thirumalai Nayakkar. In early 14th century, the armies of Delhi Sultanate led by Muslim
Commander Malik Kafur plundered the temple, looted it of its valuables and
destroyed the Madurai temple town along with many other temple towns of South
India. Vijayanagara Empire rulers rebuilt the core and reopened the temple. The famed temple now has 14 gopurams (gateway
towers), ranging from 45–50m in height, with the southern gopura tallest at
51.9 metres (170 ft). The complex has numerous sculpted pillared halls such as
Ayirakkal (1,000 pillar hall), Kilikoondu-mandapam, Golu-mandapam and
Pudu-mandapam.
Recently in 2017, the
famed temple was adjudged the best ‘Swachh Iconic Place’ (clean
place) in India. Ten spots were identified by the Central government as part of
the ‘Swachh Iconic Places’ initiative and Madurai City Corporation became recipient of a special award from the Centre as part of the
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. District
Collector and Corporation Commissioner received the honours. The officials claimed that as part of the recognition as Swachh Iconic
Place, a project had been conceived to clean the periphery of the temple, and
was slated to be completed by March 2018. The project is estimated to cost ₹11.65
crore and has been sponsored by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd as part of its
corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity.
It is common
knowledge that temples in Tamil Nadu are under Hindu Religious & Charitable
Endowments – the money that pours in to the Temple hundials are taken over by
HR&CE and the Government and are used for all and sundry – wide away for
the purposes for which such donations big and small are made. Temples are neglected and officials do not
care to maintain the religious, spiritual or physical cleanliness of the
temples ~ sad, is the state of affairs. While
the revenue of major temples enrich the coffers of the Govt, nothing is done to
take care, maintain, upkeep or least ensure that basic poojas are conducted in
Temples. Who cares !
Adding to the sordid
affairs, there are shops and commercial establishments minting money from the
devotees ~ in every Temple, such shops run by individuals either do not pay
rent or pay a measly price, many a times managed by politicians and goons. The authorities do not take any action for
obvious reasons – either aligning themselves or simple negligent.
From the morning
media abuzz with reports that a massive
fire broke out on the premises of the
famous Meenakshi temple was put out in the early hours of Saturday and the
devotees were allowed to offer the morning prayers. The reports put that the fire reduced 40 shops to ashes. "The hall
with 1,000 pillars, which houses the temple museum, has not suffered any
damage," District Collector Veera Raghava Rao, who supervised the
fire-fighting operations, told reporters. He added that a special team was
formed to look into the impact of the fire on the temple, especially the
7,000-square foot Vasantharayar Mandapam, "which has been affected". There
were no casualties, the collector said, adding that a police investigation was
underway, primarily because the fire broke out in the night.
Other reports state
that the major fire destroyed atleast 30
shops located inside the East Tower of the Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai. A
preliminary probe revealed that the fire broke out late on Friday night due to
an electrical short-circuit in one of the shops situated near the 1,000-pillar
hall. About 40 shops, selling puja articles and toys, were gutted in the fire
and steps were being taken to clear the area of smoke, the police said.
According to a flower vendor at the temple, the mortar paste had peeled off at several
places inside the Vasantharayar hall, while the paintings on the roof were
destroyed. Besides, two pillars got dislocated in the impact of the fire, a
temple official said on the condition of anonymity. The east tower entrance of
the temple has temporarily been shut for cleanup works and the devotees are
being allowed inside through the other gates.
Meanwhile, various
Hindu outfits staged a protest, demanding relocation of the shops from the
temple premises. It is not out of place to point out that a Hindu Munnani
leader who had earlier pleaded removal of shops in the temple complex was
murdered a decade ago. A huge posse of
police personnel has been deployed in and around the temple.
Sad is the state of
affairs ! ~ if the heritage and richness of the Temple is to be preserved all
shops must be removed from the Temple compound and so be the Office – can not
the administration function from any building outside the Temple Complex ? ~ and this would apply to all Temples managed
(!) by HR & CE
அரசே ஆலயத்தை விட்டு வெளியேறு !
~ ஆலய காணிக்கைகளை இறைவனுக்காக
மட்டுமே செலவிடு.
ஆலய காணிக்கை வேறு எந்த திட்டத்துக்கும் செல்லக்கூடாது.
ஆலய நிலங்களை அரசு தானம் செய்யக்கூடாது.
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