Historic paintings to adorn Madurai walls

Sources said that as part of the city beautification project, historic and cultural paintings portraying the rich ancient character of Madurai would adorn the walls of the Temple City soon. The project, a brain child of Corporation Commissioner Sandeep Nanduri, is part of Swachh Bharat mission to make the city not just clean, but also look beautiful. 

A team of expert artists has been hired to execute the job. A sample painting on one of the pillars of the bridge on Vaigai at Yanaikal, has started attracting many eyes.  The painting features the Madurai’s most famous Chithirai festival where Lord Kallazhagar enters the Vaigai and the action-packed crowd. Kallazhagar entering Vaigai is a state-wide popular event that devotees from all over the state and the country. 

The work was done by by Kannan, a drawing master with the TVS Matric Higher Secondary School at Madurai. His creations during the World Tamil Sangam and his paintings in the Corporation are proof of his expertise in the field and knowledge about Madurai. Kannan said that Kallazhagar entering Vaigai was his first choice as Madurai was known for the annual 10-day Chithirai festival and lakhs of devotees participate in the festival. 

His next choice would be world famous Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple and other important landmarks like Nayak Mahal, Gandhi Museum, etc.  He will be adding sheen to all the pillars on the bridge as the entire Yanaikal section has been handed over to him A corporation official in Zone-II, where the paintings are done in the first phase, said that earlier the pillars were full of posters of political parties and cinemas. But, once the paintings are done steps would be taken to stop defacement of the space. 

Apart from that, the spot is located close to Vaigai where lakhs of devotees assemble to witness the Kalazhagar’s entry every year and the paintings will surely impress the crowd, the official felt.