Separate queue in temples to facilitate easy darshan for senior citizens and pregnant women: HR&CE Minister

To ensure easy darshan for senior citizens, pregnant women and persons with infants, in temples with heavy footfall, a separate queue will be arranged, Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Minister P.K.Sekarbabu said in the Assembly on Wednesday. A special pathway to facilitate differently-abled persons to reach the sea will be provided at the seashore of Arulmigu Subramania Swamy Temple in Tiruchendur, at an estimated cost of ₹50 lakh. Besides 40 temples which are over 1,000-years-old will be renovated at an estimated cost of ₹21 crore, Mr. Sekarbabu said tabling the demand for grants for his department.

To ensure easy darshan for senior citizens, pregnant women and persons with infants, in temples with heavy footfall, a separate queue will be arranged, Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Minister P.K.Sekarbabu said in the Assembly on Wednesday.

A special pathway to facilitate differently-abled persons to reach the sea will be provided at the seashore of Subramania Swamy Temple in Tiruchendur, at an estimated cost of ₹50 lakh. Besides 40 temples which are over 1,000-years-old will be renovated at an estimated cost of ₹21 crore, Mr. Sekarbabu said tabling the demand for grants for his department.

From renovating temples, extending Annadaanam schemes, providing rope car facilities, resting halls for devotees and building marriage halls, the Minister made 249 new announcements.

Keeping the welfare of the devotees inmind, a grant of ₹50 crore will be provided by the government for the improvement of amenities, including development works at Agni Theertham in Ramanatha Swamy Temple, Rameswaram. He noted that for the marriage of couples in temples, in whom one of the partners is differently-abled, a gold thali weighing 4 gram will be provided by the temple from this year.

To enable provision of basic amenities to devotees of five temples, a master plan will be prepared and work will be undertaken at an estimated cost of ₹200 crore, while Thiruppani works will be carried out in 698 temples, at a cost of ₹250 crore.

The Minister also mentioned that a resting hall for devotees on pilgrimage from Chennai to Tirumala by foot will be constructed on the land belonging to Subramaniyaswamy Temple in Tiruttani, at a cost of ₹3 crore. An additional guest house for pilgrims will be constructed at Tirumala by Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam, at an estimated cost of ₹15 crore.