Tamil Nadu Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments P.K. Sekarbabu, on Friday, saidTamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin will soon inaugurate a rope car to the Sri Lakshminarasimhar temple in Sholinghur town in Ranipet district.
Along with Minister for Handlooms and Textiles, R. Gandhi and Collector S. Valarmathi, Mr. Sekarbabu inspected the trial run of the rope car facility at the temple in the town.
He also reviewed the infrastructure and civic amenities works at the temple, which is one of the 108 ‘divyadesams’, that has been undertaken at a cost of ₹12 crore. “Of six hill temples that have been identified for rope car facilities in the State based on feasibility study, work on rope cars in two hill temples at a cost of ₹27 crore will begin soon. The on-going rope car work in Ayyarmalai (Tiruchi) will be completed in one or two months,” he said.
Originally sanctioned in 2010, the rope car to the temple in Sholinghur town has been built at a cost of ₹8.26 crore, which included five-year maintenance by the Kolkata-based company that did the work.
A total of 16 persons can go up and down at a time, with four persons per car. It will take three to four minutes to reach the 202 metre-high hill, which is otherwise covered by 1,305 steps. In an hour, on an average, around 400 persons can travel in the facility.
The temple, which has the idol of Sri Yoga Narasimhar at the hill top and Sri Bhakthochitha Perumal, the utsava idol, at the foothills, witnesses large crowds on the weekends and during the annual Brahmotsavam.
Facilities, including a waiting hall, safe storage space for the personal belongings of devotees, a ticketing counter, drinking water, washrooms, a parking lot, shops to sell puja items, have also been built. A sum of ₹2.5 crore has also been allotted for the construction of a home for senior citizens at the foothills of the temple. Work on the new home will commence soon, Mr. Sekarbabu said.
