Plea to protect temple car

The absence of roof for protecting the small wooden car of Arulmigu Sennakesava Perumal Temple in Sankagiri near here has been exposing it to rain and shine.

This famous temple is located on the Sankagiri hillock and the annual car festival, marking the holy ritual of both the big and small carts, was commenced on April 21 and concluded on May 9.

While the smaller car is used for the Lord Anjaneyar, the bigger one carried the holy idols of Sri Sennakesava Perumal and his consorts Sridevi and Poodevi during the car festival.

While the bigger car of the temple is well protected, the smaller one lacks adequate attention.

A cross section of the devotees complain that the smaller car, since the conclusion of the annual car festival, has been placed in the open without any cover. Constant exposure to sunlight and also during showers may cause more damage to the car, they say.

Proper preservation of smaller car is quite necessary, feel devotees. They demanded the HR and CE officials to construct roof for protecting the small wooden car.

It may be recalled that the small car suffered enough damage due to the passage of time a few years ago. Following the repeated pleas of the devotees, the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR and CE) Department renovated the small car in 2014.

It undertook the removation of the car at an outlay of ₹ 1.5 lakh by fetching a wooden wheel and axle lying in excess with the Arulmigu Mariamman Temple in Rasipuram town in Namakkal district.