CHENNAI: The starving monkeys at the famous Sholinghur Temple and nearby temples are now getting food thanks to the feeding initiative taken up from 20th September 2020 by Chennai Food Bank which is managed by RYA Madras Metro Trust. There are 2,000 plus monkeys living at Sholingur in Ranipet district- near Vellore Arakkonam Wallajahbad- where the famous Narasimha Swamy Temple and Anjaneyar Swamy Temple are situated.
These monkeys are dependent for their food only on devotees coming to these Sholingur temples for darshan. The temples were closed for months due to Corona pandemic COVID lockdown and even now there are very few visitors coming to these temples. As a result, the monkeys have been starving without food, there are no fruit bearing trees on these hills.
PLIGHT OF MONKEYS:
A press release received from RYA Madras Metro Trust-Chennai Food Bank on 28th September 2020 has informed that the members came to know about the plight of monkeys and hence a divine seva was started as a noble initiative by feeding the monkeys with bananas, roasted Bengal gram and curd rice every day at Sholingur starting from 20th September 2020.
“Chennai Food Bank is an ISO-accredited non-profitable organization in Chennai with the motto of working for a Hunger Free world. We have tied up with local vendors to ensure that food is provided to the monkeys daily,” the press release said.
Chennai Food Bank has been working for the last 27 years by successfully providing foodgrains to the needy in and around Chennai. Till now, 40 million meals was provided by the Chennai Food Bank in an earnest effort to eradicate hunger. The RYA Madras Metro Trust Chennai Food Bank is located at No.12, Saravanan Street, T.Nagar, Chennai. Phone numbers are: 044 – 2431 2096 and 044 – 4212 8153.
