MADURAI: An appeal has been made today to the Madurai Corporation and various Government authorities to take steps for permitting mobile phones inside the famous Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple and to immediately provide toilet facilities inside or very near to the temple for the convenience of tourists, pilgrims and especially foreign tourists.
Several points were discussed at an interaction discussion session organised by the Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on January 31st 2024, at the special tourism initiative called ‘BOT-Best of Tamil Nadu’, unveiled by the TN Chamber, in which Madurai Corporation Commissioner Mr.L.Madhubalan IAS took part and spent more than two hours seeking the suggestions and feedback from various stakeholders connected to tourism sector. (The BOT website launched today in Madurai for tourism promotion is www.bestoftamilnadu.com).
Mr.G.Vasudevan, former president of Travel Club and a tourism expert in Madurai, had mentioned a few points for the attention of Corporation authorities.
“There are no proper public toilet facilities in Meenakshi Temple and surrounding nearby locality. No clean western toilets are there for foreign tourists. The only one free public toilet near the temple is horrible. So, we want the Madurai Corporation to provide toilet facilities,” he said.
He also made an appeal to the government authorities to permit mobile phones inside the temple because it is directly linked to tourists and tourism promotion.
“Tourists from other countries want to take photos inside the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai and enjoy its architecture. But, cell phones are not permitted inside the temple now citing security reasons. So, our foreign guests are disappointed. If mobile phones are allowed into the airports, why not into our Meenakshi Temple which gets a large number of foreign tourists. Why can’t you have scanning devices to check and allow tourists to carry cell phones,” he asked.
Representatives from various tourism connected associations and companies participated in the ‘Best of Tamil Nadu’ tourism initiative launched from Madurai today.
Among those who were present include Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Dr.N.Jegatheesan, BOT chairman J.Vijaya Darshan, vice-chairman P.Hamsa Priya and YES chairman V.Neethi Mohan along with entrepreneur and women entrepreneurship expert Mrs.Rajakumari Jeevagan and representatives from State government tourism department, IRCTC, railways, tourist and travel operator associations and faculty from colleges and Madurai Kamaraj University College tourism department and others.
