Kerala - Pathanamthitta   

Shelter for the elderly to come up at Aranmula temple

Staff Reporter

PATHANAMTHITTA: The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) will set up a self-contained shelter for the 100-odd orphaned elderly devotees who have been camping at Sree Parthasarathy Temple in Aranmula.

Devaswom Commissioner C.G. Satchidanandan inspected the site for the proposed shelter, adjoining the temple, on the banks of the Pampa, recently.

Mr. Satchidanandan told The Hindu that the project was part of the infrastructure development scheme under the Endogenous Tourism Project, jointly sponsored by the Union Government and the United Nations Development Programme.

Aranmula in Pathanamthitta and Kumbalangi in Ernakulam are the two villages selected for implementing the Endogenous Tourism Project in the State.

Mr. Satchidanandan said the proposed shelter was estimated at Rs. 5 lakhs and the Vastu Vidya Gurukulam, under the Ministry for Cultural Affairs, had prepared a plan and project report.

According to him, a recent survey shows that no fewer than 105 orphaned elderly devotees had been camping at the temple. These elderly people spent their days in the temple precincts till it is closed after Athazhapuja and seek refuge on the verandahs of shops in the surrounding areas at night. Though the TDB has provided a small hall for women devotees, the rise in their numbers had made the facility inadequate for them.

Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister T.K.A. Nair too had taken the initiative in finding a resting place for these elderly devotees during his recent visit to Aranmula.

The UNDP fund for the implementation of the project would be channelled through the grama panchayat and the Board would construct the shelter on its land before Onam.

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Shelter for the elderly to come up at Aranmula temple

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