The Hindu : Front Page : New tourist attraction soon

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Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010
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New tourist attraction soon

Staff Reporter

MADURAI: Pudumandapam, opposite Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple here, will soon have a sound and light show depicting the life of goddess Meenakshi.

Presently, tourists are not able to feast on the sculptural wonders of Pudumandapam which is choc-a-block with shops and sewing machines. Around 150 shops and an equal number of tailors have been occupying the mandapam for over decades.

As a prelude to implementation of the project under Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission, Corporation officials convened a meeting of traders and tailors here on Tuesday. Corporation Chief Engineer K. Sakthivel said the mandapam was an ideal place to have the sound and light show. It was part of a Rs. 20-crore project to construct a parking lot, a shopping complex, lighting the Chithirai Streets, beautifying the Mariamman Teppakulam and Tirumalai Naick Palace. He promised them that they would be accommodated at a new shopping complex to be constructed at a nearby vacant site where the Kunnthar Chathiram stood.

Plea for ground floor

The traders demanded that they should not be asked to vacate the mandapam before the new facility was ready. Besides, they should be given the ground floor. Association secretary G. Kathiresan said that most of them were small traders selling utensils, fancy items, saris and textbooks. “People will not bother to climb up to the first floor to buy our products.”

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