Now, glide to hill temple at Sholinghur

RANIPET: A decade-and-a-half dream for a rope car facility to Arulmigu Narasimha Swamy Temple atop the hillock in Sholinghur here has finally become a reality with HR&CE Minister PK Sekarbabu and Handlooms Minister R Gandhi, accompanied by officials, rope gliding to the 510-foot-high hill on Friday.

The ministers and officials, who hopped on to the four-cabin rope car, had a darshan of the presiding deity and inspected various minor ongoing works atop the hillock before descending again on Friday morning.

Interacting with the media, Sekarbabu said the ropeway would be dedicated to the public by Chief Minister MK Stalin shortly. He said renovation works at Rs 1 crore each were underway at the Narasimha Swamy Temple on the big hill and the Anjaneya temple on the adjacent, smaller hill.

Elaborating, he said the rope car project at Aiyar Malai in Karur district would also become operational shortly. Similarly, the government, which studied the practicalities of similar projects in six temples in Tamil Nadu, had finally decided to work on two temples on priority.

Blaming the former AIADMK government for unfinished rope car works at the Sholinghur and Aiyar Malail hill temples, he said a plaque was put up citing that both projects were completed on February 26, 2021, on the eve of the then elections. The Sholinghur temple rope car works were then estimated at Rs 8.40 crore, he said.

Sekarbabu also lauded Minister Gandhi for setting up cavernous waiting hall and other facilities at the site.