Parking lot yet to become a reality in Srirangam

The arrival of devotees from different parts of the country, mainly from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, to Sri Ranganathanswamy Temple continues to soar every year

The arrival of devotees from different parts of the country, mainly from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, to Sri Ranganathanswamy Temple continues to soar every year.

The number of devotees, who visited the temple about 20 to 25 years ago, was just in the hundreds. It did not pose many problems to the traffic managers and the competent authorities to regulate the vehicles. But this number has risen phenomenally over the last few years.

According to sources, Srirangam, on average, receives about 500 cars and 100 buses per day. The number swells on weekends, holidays and Sabarimala season from November to January. But there is no organised parking lot to accommodate the tourist vehicles. In the absence of parking lots, the devotees park their vehicles at their will, thereby creating traffic woes.

The temple town received a record number of vehicles on Saturday on account of the opening of Paramapathavaasal as part of the ongoing 22-day Vaikunta Ekadasi festival. However, the police did not allow vehicles to enter Srirangam as per the traffic management plan. The vehicles were parked in temporary lots, most of which were situated at least one km away from Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple. The devotees, who came from tourist vehicles and cards, had to walk at least one km to reach the temple.

“It is surprising that Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, one of the popular temples in the country, does not have a dedicated parking lot. My vehicle was not allowed beyond Thiruvanaikoil, which is about 1.5 km from the Srirangam temple. We had no other option except to reach the temple on foot,” said Rama Krishna Raju, a devotee from Andhra Pradesh, who came to Srirangam on Saturday.

Though there were many attempts to establish parking lots in Srirangam, none of them fructified. While the Tiruchi City Corporation cites lack of a sizeable plot for constructing the parking lot, the local residents blamed the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment, which owns many large vacant sites in Srirangam and Thiruvanaikovil, as it had not come forward to construct a parking lot.

“Devotees cannot be allowed to face difficulties in parking vehicles. Both the Corporation and the HR&CE have equal responsibility in providing facilities to the devotees. Parking lots should become a reality soon,” says M. Selvakumar, a resident of Srirangam.