![]() ![]() Normally this is a seasoned, paunchy cop chosen for his wide vocabulary who provides a running stream of directions and insults to vehicles and people over a loudspeaker - 'Auto no 5754, get a move on. In an inspired attempt at bringing some order to the chaos, the Madurai Police have installed a mini tower with a constable perched atop, near the temple walls. The streets themselves are bustling with hawkers, tourists, lorries waiting to be unloaded, construction and demolition equipment, cows and pedestrians. I used to pass this way on my bike en route to the wholesale market and I quickly learnt the algo - I'd take a deep breath as I turned into West Mada and hold it in as I raced through, narrowly avoiding several cows and vegetable carts to emerge triumphantly at the entrance to the wholesale market, a little blue in the face. A case in point - two minutes away from the temple, on West Mada street, is an open public toilet that stinks like crazy. However, the state of disrepair of the entrance and of the streets surrounding the temple (especially on the north and east sides of the temple) points to the apathy and callousness of the municipality and the ASI. The main sanctum itself is reasonably well maintained and the temple is not short of funds. Having lived in Madurai for a year, I'm familiar with the litany of neglect he describes. If there has ever been a plan to “buy” them out, nobody knows. Besides, the moment you try to touch them it becomes a local ![]() The shopkeepers have “hereditary” rights and cannot be removedĪs mere squatters. The local authorities will tell you their Temple to have a realistic shot at the seventh wonder status, somebody needs toĭo some real cleaning up quickly. CowsĪnd people sprawl, sharing the pathways with splashes of dung. Empty cartons are junked by the side, sometimes even in front. ![]() Walkways sometimes used as props to hang merchandise, and sometimes as Is most heart-breaking is to see ancient statues and sculptures that line the Nails are unhesitatingly hammered into Kulasekhara Pandya’sĪncient walls, remade in their present grandeur by the Nayaks in the 16th-17thĬenturies - to hang signboards, poster, calendars, even clotheslines. The shops not only defile the sanctity and beauty of the temple, they also In the latest piece, Shekhar Gupta writes movingly about the condition of the Meenakshi temple in Madurai. The Indian Express has a special series running (rather ungainly titled 'Health of our Heritage') on the state of Indian monuments. ![]()
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