A temple city that longs for district status, infrastructure push ahead of Mahamaham in 2028

Kumbakonam seeks district status and infrastructure improvements ahead of the 2028 Mahamaham festival amid ongoing civic challenges.

Kumbakonam, the “city of temples” that attracts tourists right through the year and commercial hub of Thanjavur district, remains bogged down with civic and infrastructure problems. Creating a new district with the city as the headquarters, expeditious track doubling on Thanjavur-Villupuram on the main line section that passes through the city and improving the tourism infrastructure are some of the key demands of the residents.

With the Mahamaham festival, celebrated once every 12 years, scheduled to be held in March 2028, the city is badly in need of an infrastructure push not only to handle the huge influx of devotees from across the country and abroad but also during normal days, local residents say.

Despite several schemes implemented by the civic body over the years to get rid of the town’s identity as ‘mosquito town’, the epithet continues to hold good as one could feel the bite of mosquitoes at the railway station and as well as at the mofussil bus terminus almost all through the year.

While the civic body points the finger at the Water Resources Department for the poor maintenance of irrigation channels criss-crossing the town, the latter indicts the former for the accumulation of garbage and other non-biodegradable material discarded on these channels leading to mosquito breeding. The mahamaham tank needs to be given a facelift.

The passenger amenities at the mofussil bus stand in Kumbakonam need an upgrade. | Photo Credit: R. VENGADESH

Citing the good response to the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, Kumbakonam Divisions’ “Navagraha Temple Tour” package, Karthikeyan of Kumbakonam, a tourist cab service operator, says with the daily religious tourist footfall registering a steady graph over the recent years, hotel, homestay, and tourist cab industries enjoy a green patch every day.