Passers-by near Mariamman Teppakulam here have been witnessing a pleasant sight for the last couple of days. The bone-dry temple tank, which turns into a playground of sorts during the day, is slowly getting filled with water.
With flow in Vaigai river steadily going up owing to water release from Vaigai dam and heavy rain, Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple authorities have taken steps to pump water into the Teppakulam. “Using six motors, water is being pumped into the tank from Wednesday. There is at least half-a-foot of water in the tank now,” said N. Natarajan, Joint Commissioner of Hindu Charitable and Religious Endowments Department and Executive Officer of the temple, on Friday.
“We plan to pump water till the level reaches 10 feet. Water is being pumped into the tank from the eastern side,” he told The Hindu. The temple authorities expressed hope that there will be water in the tank when the grand float festival is celebrated on full moon day in the Tamil month of ‘Thai.’ “Since we celebrated only a dry float festival or ‘Nilai Theppam’ this year, we hope to restore the grandeur to the festival by maintaining the water level,” Mr. Natarajan said. The float festival will be held on February 3.
Bushes and ‘seemai karuvelam’ trees in the tank are also being cleared. “An eco-friendly weedicide, ‘Tuffello,’ which was used to clear bushes and plant growth on Meenakshi temple’s gopurams, is used to clear weeds on the walls of the Teppakulam,” a temple official said. A part of the tank bed, however, still has garbage and rotting plants.
“We will once again clear the garbage when the water level rises as it will become easier to clean then,” the temple authorities said.
