Unannounced holiday for Kalam memorial upsets visitors

There was an increase in the number of tourists to Rameswaram as it was a long weekend of four days (including Onam and Teachers Day). On Monday, as it was Onam more number of people made a beeline towards the memorial.

But they were upset on seeing the board that stated the memorial would be closed on all Mondays.

Officials intimated them that it was due to maintenance work. But when they questioned them why the closure was not intimated to the public earlier, the officials said that the decision was taken in the last minute.

Speaking to DTNEXT, Rajaram, a tourist from Coimbatore who had gone to visit the Kalam memorial along with his family, said that he reached Rameswaram on Sunday and visited the Ramanathaswamy temple and Dhanushkodi on the first day. They had planned to visit Kalam memorial on Monday and return back to Coimbatore. But, the sudden closure of the memorial had disrupted their plans. Also, if they have to see it, they will have to visit Rameswaram again.

“We need to plan a full-fledged programme and combine it with other tourist places. It will be a cumbersome process. If we had known it earlier, we would have visited some other places. The officials should act more responsibility,” said Rajaram.

Both his children are highly inspired by Kalam and they were eager to see his memorial and the things used by him. The children said, “If the officials had informed the public earlier, we would have changed our plans. We would have visited the memorial on the first day and the temple and Dhanushkodi on the second day.”

Another problem encountered by tourists is the timings. According to new rules the memorial would be opened between 9 am and 1 pm. After a break of an hour, it would be opened from 2 pm to 5 pm.

Tourists say that the sanctum sanctorum of Rameswaram Temple opens only at 3 pm. If they plan to visit the memorial after the temple they are not able to do it. This is because by the time they offer prayers at the temple and reach the memorial, by 5pm, it is closed. “We, therefore, request the authorities to extend the timings for the memorial by another two hours,” demanded the tourists.

According to DRDO sources, on an average 3,000 tourists visit the memorial on weekdays and in the weekends crowds swell to 10,000 to 12,000. Kalam memorial has actually become a new tourist destination as people who visit Dhanushkodi and Rameswaram temple visit the memorial.