50 shops gutted as fire breaks out at Madurai’s Meenakshi temple
Nearly 50 shops were gutted in a major fire at the Meenakshi Amman temple in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai late on Friday night, police said.
Fire service officials battled for two hours to control the fire, suspected to have been triggered off by an electrical short circuit. It was finally brought under control early on Saturday.
The fire broke out at shops located under the thousand pillar mandapam inside the temple complex. The moment the fire was spotted around 10.30pm, five fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the fire.
Madurai district collector Veera Raghava Rao was present on the spot supervising the fire fighting operations. He later said there was no damage to the temple. Though the cause of the fire is not known, fire service personnel suspect it could have been sparked by a short circuit in the electric connection in one of the many shops located inside.
“The hall with 1,000 pillars, which houses the temple museum, has not suffered any damage,” Rao said.
He added that a special team was formed to look into the impact of the fire on the temple, especially the 7,000-sq.ft Vasantharayar Mandapam, “which has been affected”.
The sculptures in the hall were saved by the timely intervention of the temple staff and the fire and rescue services personnel, temple authorities said.
Mani, a flower vendor at the temple, said the mortar paste had peeled off at several places inside the Vasantharayar hall, while the paintings on the roof were destroyed. Besides, two pillars were dislocated in the impact, a temple official said on the condition of anonymity.
The east tower entrance of the temple has temporarily been shut for clean-up work and the devotees are being allowed inside through the other gates.
Meanwhile, various Hindu outfits staged a protest, demanding relocation of the shops from the temple premises.
A huge posse of police personnel has been deployed in and around the temple.
The famous Sri Meenakshi Amman temple, one of the oldest in the country, attracts thousands of devotees every year.
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