Residents urge HR&CE Department to set up parking lot on its own sites in Srirangam

At a time when the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) Department and the Tiruchi Corporation are facing flak for failing to provide parking lots for devotees visiting Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam, people have demanded that the sites owned by the temple be used for the purpose.

Parking of vehicles continues to be a major problem in the pilgrim centre of Srirangam. It has once again come into focus with the devotees flocking the temple in large numbers since the start of the Sabarimala season, which began in Tamil month of Karthigai. Devotees from different parts of the country, including Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, visit Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple on their way to Sabarimala during the season, which will extend up to Pongal. The ongoing year end season is bringing more tourist vehicles to Srirangam. Moreover, the start of the 22-day Vaikunta Ekadasi festival on December 20 is set to bring in hundreds of devotees to Srirangam. However, in the absence of parking space and traffic restrictions likely to be imposed around the temple, devotees may park their vehicles at random spots, causing traffic chaos and snarls at different places.

Though the Tiruchi Corporation took several initiatives in the past to establish parking lots, there has been no progress. The civic body could not find land to construct parking lots. The temple has a number of land parcels at different places in Srirangam and Tiruvanaikovil. Most of them have been fenced with compound walls to prevent encroachment. The devotees and long-time residents are of the view that the temple administration should establish multiple parking lots, measuring from one acre to five acres, depending upon the available space, on the sites owned by it.

“The onus of establishing parking lots is mainly with the temple administration. The land owned by the HR&CE, Sri Mariamman Temple in Samayapuram, and Sri Dhandayuthapani Temple in Palani, have been used for establishing parking lots at the respective places. The Srirangam temple administration must take a cue from Samayapuram and Palani temples and establish parking lots in Srirangam,” says S. Jawahar, Councillor representing Ward No. 2 in the Tiruchi Corporation.

K. Srinivasan, a long-time resident near the northern entrance of the temple in Srirangam, said that it was understandable if the temple did not have any land. It had a number of sites varying in different sizes. These could be used for establishing multiple parking lots. While small sites could be used for parking cars and vans, large sites could be used for parking tourist buses. The move would not only generate revenue for the temple, but also prevent the encroachment of its land.

Mr. Jawahar said the District Collector, the Corporation Commissioner, and the Joint Commissioner of Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple should take action in this regard immediately. The move would solve the long-pending issue over the absence of established parking lots.