THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple authorities and a group of local residents have raised concerns over the plans of the Public Works Department for renovation of the decades-old Vallakadavu bridge saying that it could hinder the traditional ‘aaratu’ procession of the temple. The temple authorities are planning to take up the matter with the government. The Vallakadavu-Vayyamoola Joint Action Council have done so already.
“We fear that the plan being prepared by the PWD would reduce the width of the road through which the procession will have to proceed and therefore it would be affected. Hence any such moves could be considered an insult towards a traditional ritual of the temple,” said Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple executive officer K N Satheesh. Meanwhile, PWD chief engineer P K Satheesan said that the design for renovating the bridge was not yet finalised. “We will be finalizing only after looking into the concerns being raised. Moreover, the land acquisition for the renovation work is still not over,” he added.
The action council chairman A Saifuddin Haji said that according to their information, the PWD authorities prepared a plan in which the elevation of the bridge would rise and hence the procession would have to proceed through the service road, which would be less than six metres wide, in order to enter the ‘aaratu’ road. Moreover, it would have to take a turn. Hence the bridge must be designed so the procession could enter the ‘aaratu road’ directly from the bridge, he said. The temple authorities and action council also urged that the renovation should be completed within six months so that the procession could take place in about six months. Or else, an alternative arrangement for the procession should be made, they urged.
