Arrival of too many vehicles reinforces necessity to pursue long-pending parking lot project in Srirangam

TIRUCHI Since the start of Vaikunda Ekadasi festival in Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam on F

Since the start of Vaikunda Ekadasi festival in Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam on Friday, the temple town has been witnessing heavy influx of devotees from different parts of the country. Alongside, the arrival of too many vehicles is also witnessing a sharp increase. In the absence of specific space, the devotees choose to park their vehicles at will on the roads and streets. This situation has reinforced the need for pursuing the long-pending project for construction of a parking lot.

According to an estimate of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE), Srirangam would receive 17 lakh devotees during the 22-day festival. There have been daily visits of about 60,000 to 75,000 devotees since the beginning of the festival. The temple administration expects that over two lakh devotees will visit Srirangam on the day of the opening of Paramapatha Vasal on January 2.

Though the temple and police administrations, assisted by various line departments of the State government, have made elaborate arrangements to ensure the smooth conduct of the festival, it is said that no provision has been made to park the vehicles of the devotees.

In the absence of any dedicated parking lot, the devotees conveniently park their vehicles on busy roads and streets. Except for four uthira streets, which have been barricaded so as to deny entry to tourist vehicles, most of the streets on the west side of the temple have been dotted with cars, buses and vans. A section of devotees also cook their food near the parked vehicles on the sides of Amma Mandapam road, resulting in traffic chaos.

“Most of the roads are narrow. We did not have any other option but to park on the roadside. It is unfortunate that Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, one of the popular temples in South India, does not have dedicated parking facilities,” says M. Sudheendran, a devotee from Kerala.

Pointing out the initiative of the Tiruchi Corporation to set up a parking lot near Yatri Nivas, a local resident said that Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, the Corporation and the police had a joint responsibility to solve the issue.

The parking lot should become a reality at least before the next year’s celebration of Vaikunta Ekadasi festival, the residents emphasised.