Modern wheels for Triplicane temple car: Forwarded from The Hindu

[Guest guest]

>

> Modern wheels for Triplicane temple car

>

> 25-04-1997 :: Pg: 26 :: Col: d

>

> Summer witnesses temple festivals both in towns and in

> rural areas in the State with daily procession of

> deities on different vahanams culminating in celestial

> marriages, drawing of temple cars and float festivals.

>

> This offers an opportunity for people to visit their

> native towns or villages to offer prayers and fulfil

> vows and thus the temples continue to serve as a link

> between them and their heritage.

>

> The BHEL, Tiruchi, has ungrudgingly responded to the

> requests of various temple authorities in the State

> offering its guidance for modernising temple cars by

> replacing the conventional wooden wheels with steel

> framed ones and installing hydraulic brakes to regulate

> movement of the cars. It has also offered its assistance

> to run the temple cars on festival days by deputing its

> engineers to be personally present to ensure safety of

> the modernised operations of the functional parts of the

> car.

>

> According to the BHEL engineers team led by its AGM Mr.

> Parameswaran, the thrust of modernisation is to bring

> down the weight of the car, facilitating the pulling

> with less manpower and with ease and safety.

>

> The Tiruvarur car festival this year went off on April

> 20 with pilgrims from all over attending it. But some

> doubted whether the modernisation of the car had really

> brought the desired results. They argued that instead of

> a dozen people providing the necessary push from behind

> and thousands pulling the car from the front, dozens

> were hired wasting precious diesel to push the car from

> behind. Pulling the car with giant steel framed wheels

> and hydraulic brakes was a tedious exercise, in which,

> of course, manpower was also used in a big way. Even

> though the BHEL argued that the load of the car was

> reduced and safety was the watchword, some felt that the

> car festival had seldom witnessed any accidents.

>

> The inaugural run of the BHEL modernised car at the Sri

> Parthasarathy Swamy Temple in Triplicane, Chennai is

> slated for April 28.

>

> The car at Triplicane weighs 60 tonnes without

> decoration and about 80 tonnes when adorned. The BHEL

> has manufactured the steel axle to suit the existing

> Bootha Bar and after removing the wooden axle the steel

> one has been fixed. Axles are of box section 430mm by

> 420mm and axle length is 4.5 metres. The wheels are made

> of high quality steel plates of 16mm thickness. The

> width of the wheel is 360mm. The BHEL has also extended

> its services for the safe removal of the existing wooden

> axles and wheels and replacing them with steel.

>

> Our Staff Reporter writes:-

>

> The temple authorities claim that this is the first

> temple car in the city to be fitted with iron wheels.

> The car is pulled along the four `mada' streets of

> Triplicane two times in a year - during `Chithirai

> Brahmothsavam' for Sri Parthasarathy Perumal and during

> the `Aani Shravanam' festival for Sri Narasimhar.

>

> Nearly Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 50,000 is spent every year to

> keep the wheels in good condition. Once the present

> wooden wheels are replaced, the maintenance cost will

> come down considerably.

>

> A sizable amount of the project, mooted by the Joint

> Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment

> Board, Mr. P.Dhanapal, was met with donations from

> public and philanthropists, said Mr. R.Vasunathan,

> Executive Officer of the temple.

>

> According to Sri S.Venkatakrishna Bhattachariyar, Chief

> Priest, the car, excluding the top portion, was about

> 200 years old. The top section was fabricated a decade

> ago. During the last ten years, three out of the four

> wheels had been replaced after they were damaged beyond

> repair.

>

> The decorated idol of Sri Parthasarathy Perumal will be

> placed on the car between 2-30 a.m. and 3-30 a.m. on

> April 28 and the car will be pulled along the streets

> around 7 a.m. The deity will be brought back to the

> temple in a procession around 11 p.m. after anointment

> and special `pujas' at the `Vasantha Uthsava' Bunglow at

> Venkatarangam Pillai Street, Triplicane, he said.

 

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