NAGAPATTINAM: The famed Navaneetheshwara Swamy Temple housing the celebrated Sikkal Singaravelavar shrine in Sikkal is getting more infrastructural facilities, thus providing fillip to religious tourism in the district.
Works to the tune Rs.99.66 lakh have been taken up at Sikkal as part of a project funded by the State Department of Tourism, with the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) as the executing agency.
Three rest sheds
The project envisages three pilgrim rest sheds (mantaps) at a cumulative cost of Rs.86.10 lakh. The three sheds, one each on the east, north east and the front of the temple, will house about 3,000 pilgrims. The eastern mantap is estimated at Rs.28.56 lakh, the north-eastern one at Rs. 31.24 lakh and the one on the front at Rs.26.30 lakh.
The centuries-old temple, celebrated by the Thevaram saints, attracts an annual pilgrim population of two lakhs, which includes a pilgrim influx during the week-long ‘kanda sashti' festival in October and the float festival during ‘thaipoosam' in January. “Over 50,000 pilgrims visit the temple in a single day for ‘vel' ceremony at the Singaravelavar temple, and the sashti festival receives lakh pilgrims every year.
The rest mantaps would help accommodate the pilgrims,” says R. Rajendran, Executive Officer, Sikkal temple. The project also includes a toilet block housing six toilets and six bathrooms, at a cost of Rs.5.23 lakh; an overhead tank of 10,000 litre capacity under construction at an estimated cost of Rs.1.83 lakh; and high-mast lights at a cost of Rs.6.50 lakh.
Speaking to The Hindu, Collector C. Munianathan pointed out that the infrastructural fillip to the temple would spur religious tourism in the district. “The temple, one of the oldest places of worship in the region, is significant as a pilgrim centre, alongside Velankanni and Nagore, and in many ways were markers of communal harmony,” Mr. Munianathan said.
According to Kodhandaraman, Assistant Commissioner, HR and CE, toilet block and the overhead tank works were nearing completion. As of date, roof centring works, under way at the three mantaps, are scheduled to be completed by mid-June.
Works to the tune Rs.99.66 lakh have been taken up at Sikkal as part of a project funded by the State Department of Tourism, with the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) as the executing agency.
Three rest sheds
The project envisages three pilgrim rest sheds (mantaps) at a cumulative cost of Rs.86.10 lakh. The three sheds, one each on the east, north east and the front of the temple, will house about 3,000 pilgrims. The eastern mantap is estimated at Rs.28.56 lakh, the north-eastern one at Rs. 31.24 lakh and the one on the front at Rs.26.30 lakh.
The centuries-old temple, celebrated by the Thevaram saints, attracts an annual pilgrim population of two lakhs, which includes a pilgrim influx during the week-long ‘kanda sashti' festival in October and the float festival during ‘thaipoosam' in January. “Over 50,000 pilgrims visit the temple in a single day for ‘vel' ceremony at the Singaravelavar temple, and the sashti festival receives lakh pilgrims every year.
The rest mantaps would help accommodate the pilgrims,” says R. Rajendran, Executive Officer, Sikkal temple. The project also includes a toilet block housing six toilets and six bathrooms, at a cost of Rs.5.23 lakh; an overhead tank of 10,000 litre capacity under construction at an estimated cost of Rs.1.83 lakh; and high-mast lights at a cost of Rs.6.50 lakh.
Speaking to The Hindu, Collector C. Munianathan pointed out that the infrastructural fillip to the temple would spur religious tourism in the district. “The temple, one of the oldest places of worship in the region, is significant as a pilgrim centre, alongside Velankanni and Nagore, and in many ways were markers of communal harmony,” Mr. Munianathan said.
According to Kodhandaraman, Assistant Commissioner, HR and CE, toilet block and the overhead tank works were nearing completion. As of date, roof centring works, under way at the three mantaps, are scheduled to be completed by mid-June.
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