Ramanathapuram, July 18, 2013: The conventional wooden wheels of the century-old Ambal Temple car of Sri Rasmanathaswamy Temple in Rameswaram have been replaced with iron wheels, designed and made by BHEL, Tiruchi.

C.Selvaraj, Joint Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR and CE) Department, said the new wheels were fitted after a Ganapathy puja on Wednesday.

He said a team of BHEL engineers, who visited the temple earlier this year, made the iron wheels in three months at a cost of Rs.3.5 lakh. The old wooden wheels were fitted 15 years ago. The Ambal Temple car would be pulled around the temple during the ‘Aadi festival’ next month, he noted.

Mr.Selvaraj said the wooden wheels of the Swamy Temple car were also being replaced with iron wheels, made by BHEL at a cost of Rs.4.5 lakh.

The company had delivered the wheels and they would be fitted next week, he added.

K.Mayilvakanan, Temple Assistant Divisional Engineer, said iron wheels were considered safer for the temple cars since they would make the movement of the car easy during festivals. He said as instructed by P.Danapal, Commissioner, HR and CE, anti-skid rubber mats were laid on the path leading to all the 22 theerthams inside the temple for the safety of the pilgrims, who took holy baths there before offering worship to the main deity.

Mats had been laid on a total area of 2,000 square feet, up to the seventh theertham, he said.

Source: The Hindu, DT. July 18, 2013.