The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Hoarding gives wrong message

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 04, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Hoarding gives wrong message

G. Srinivasan

The scaffolding for a hoarding that threatens to block the view of the Big Temple in Thanjavur. — Photo: M.Srinath

Thanjavur: Even as a national meet discusses how to save the historical Thanjavur, a hoarding coming up near the overbridge at Thanjavur threatens to block the view of the Big Temple, which has been declared a World Heritage Monument by UNESCO, being an architectural marvel built by King Raja Raja Cholan. One can catch the glimpse of the 212-foot vimana of the Big Temple from the gaps in the scaffolding put up for erecting the hoarding. But when the billboard comes up, the view of vimana will be totally blocked.

Art lovers in the district have appealed to municipal authorities to reconsider the decision to permit the hoarding.

Ironically, a national seminar on manuscript traditions, held under the auspices of National Mission for Manuscripts for the past three days, stressed the need for protecting monuments, preserving tradition and learning from the past.

S.S. Palani Manickam, Union Minister of State for Finance, made a fervent plea to the youth to save our heritage and not to cause damage to it. He explained how the aesthetic appeal of an ancient court building was marred by a concrete building that has come up on the opposite side on the Collector's Road. He urged town planners and builders to desist from such moves.

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