High drama outside Meenakshi Amman Temple

Massive fire broke out in the fancy shops near Eastern Tower of Meenakshi Amman Temple on Friday late night, after the temple gates wer closed, and the fire soon engulfed the entire Veera Vasantha Rayar Mandapam where all the shops were present. In the fire accident a section of Veera Vasantha Rayar Mandapam collapsed and the pillas sustained damages. Also 36 shops had been completely gutted in the fire accident. 

Madurai Collector, K Veera Raghav Rao, inspected the damaged areas and instructed the officials to remove the debris as early as possible. Also a section of debris is still hot and they would be removed only on Sunday. 

Following that while addressing the media, Collector said that a team of engineers from Madurai Corporation and PWD would assess the damages in the temple on Sunday. 

Already two lorries full of debris had been cleared and the process would continue till Sunday. He also said that the damages had been limited to the Veera Vasantha Rayar Mandapam, which is present at the area of 7,000 square feet and the 1000 pillared hall had not been affected said Collector. 

In the meantime Hindu outits and parties staged protest outside the Eastern Tower of the Temple, which has been closed for public. They shouted slogans against HR&CE department and against Temple management. 

They demanded the government to dissolve HR&CE department and to make all Hindu temples independent just like Churches and Mosques. Additionally, they demanded the Temple officials to stop collecting amount in the name of Darshan. 

With the demands members of five Hindu outfits are staging fast outside Eastern Tower. Also two youth, who were standing outside the temple with black shirts, were attacked by the Hindu outfits. 

They also tried to damage a Police vehicle but were prevented and there was tension. Some of the nearby shops were closed because of the protests and tension. 

Meanwhile Meenakshi Amman Temple Police had booked case of accidental fire based on the complaint from Kalaivanan, Temple Superintendent.