The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) has asked the Tourism Department to hand over the auditorium constructed at the Kattazhagia Singar Temple land in Srirangam.
The move comes in the background of public outcry over the non-utilisation of the auditorium constructed at a cost of ₹3 crore. The project was one among those taken up soon after former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was elected to the State Assembly from the Srirangam constituency in 2011. The Tourism Department had taken up the work in 2011-12.
Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami inaugurated the auditorium recently through video conferencing. Since the auditorium had been constructed on the premises of Kattazhagia Singar temple, which is under the Srirangam Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple Devasthanam, the HR&CE has requested the Tourism Department to hand over the auditorium so that it can be rented out to organise cultural events.
M. Veera Shanmugha Moni, Commissioner, HR&CE, who inspected the auditorium a few days ago, told The Hindu that the HR&CE would take control of the auditorium in a few days. It would be manned by the Sri Ranganathar Temple administration. It has been decided to rent it out for organising classical dance, music and other cultural programmes. Discussions were on to fix the rent for the auditorium, which has a seating capacity for 750 persons.
Earlier, Mr. Moni inspected the facilities provided in the auditorium. Pointing to the provision of seats for dignitaries in the front rows, which was likely to disturb the view of those seated behind, he asked the officials to take suitable steps to solve the issue.
Meanwhile, Ilangovan, Tourism Officer, Tiruchi, said that the HR&CE officials have asked for a few facilities and the auditorium would be handed over to them shortly.
