Work on restoration of Veera Vasantharayar Mandapam on Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple premises would be completed within three years and officials had been directed to expedite the work, said Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) Minister P. K. Sekar Babu on Monday.
Mr. Sekar Babu, along with Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration P. Moorthy, inspected steps being taken for the restoration of the Veera Vasantharayar Mandapam and maintenance of Pudhu Mandapam. Mr. Sekar Babu instructed the temple officials to give priority to these works.
According to a release, before visiting the Meenakshi temple, the Ministers inspected the stones brought for the restoration work. The huge stones have been brought from Namakkal district. More stones would arrive shortly, the officials said.
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had laid the foundation stone for the restoration work at the Veera Vasantharayar Mandapam through video conference last week. A total of ₹14.76 crore has been earmarked for the restoration work and for construction of a wedding hall and shopping complex.
An expert panel has been constituted for the restoration work. During the inspection, the Ministers were briefed about steps being taken for restoration.
A portion of the mandapam was destroyed in a fire in February 2018. Portions of the ceiling and a few pillars had collapsed in the fire. Many shops on the premises were destroyed in the fire. All the shops were vacated and moved to a newly constructed shopping complex nearby.
Secretary for Tourism, Culture and HR and CE B. Chandramohan, HR and CE Commissioner J. Kumaragurubaran, Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan, Collector S. Aneesh Sekhar, Corporation Commissioner Simranjeet Singh Kahlon, Mayor Indrani Ponvasanth, Deputy Mayor T. Nagarajan, Temple’s Fit Person Karumuttu T. Kannan and MLAs G. Thalapathi, M. Boominathan and A. Venkatesan were present.
