No end in sight for tourists’ tribulations near Big Temple

Residents of Thanjavur hope for solutions to traffic congestion near the Big Temple through Smart City projects.

Residents of Thanjavur feel that their expectations for a lasting solution to the problems they face and the tourists in negotiating the stretch near the Big Temple might remain a dream forever.

Their hopes for a solution grew when the Thanjavur Corporation found a place in the list of 100 urban areas picked up by the Central government for implementation of the Smart City projects in 2015 and the project gathered pace with the announcement of the creation of an underground parking lot at the erstwhile Thiruvalluvar Theatre Complex, a vertical light motor vehicle parking lot near the Ayyasamy Vandaiyar Memorial Bus Stand (the Old Bus Stand) and the Commercial Complex with private vehicles parking lot planned at the erstwhile Thiruvaiyaru Bus Stand.

At the time of launching of the Smart City project the civic body officials claimed that the new parking lots would be of immense help to the tourists visiting the World Heritage Monument in their vehicles and it would help reduce the congestion created on the Big Temple road due to the presence of the vehicle parking lot right in front of the Big Temple, pointed out, R.Chandran, an architect and social activist.

In 2022, their expectations grew further as the Mayor S.Ramanathan said that the civic body would push through a proposal to construct a rail overbridge (ROB) connecting the Srinivasapuram area, on the Western fringe of the Old Thanjavur Town with the Medical College Road.

However, much to the agony of the residents and the tourists visiting the World Heritage Monument continue to undergo the ordeal of negotiating the small stretch of Big Temple Road as nothing tangible seems to have emerged out of the Mayor’s announcement as well as from the much pampered Smart City project implementation, said S. Sethuraman, a social activist.

Suggesting that the Thilakar Thidal near the Big Temple complex, where the political parties used to conduct their meetings sporadically, could be converted as a parking lot for tourist buses, vans and other light motor vehicles, he pointed out that the traffic snarls on the Big Temple Road could be averted to a greater extent as the tourists could reach the temple complex via the moat ramp abutting the ‘Sivaganga Park’ entrance near the Thilakar Thidal.

Further, the existing parking lot could be used for two-wheeler parking to avoid parking motorcycles and other two-wheelers on the pavements during ‘pradosham’, ‘ashtami’ and other auspicious days when local devotees will be visiting the temple in large numbers, he added.