MADURAI: Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal, the 383-year-old palace of King Thirumalai Nayakkar, will be renovated at a cost of Rs 3 crore. The works, being undertaken after a gap of 10 years, will be completed by June 20, 2020, sources said.
Court’s intervention
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on 11 August 2011 ordered an interim stay on shooting films on the palace premises after several incidents the monument being damaged during shooting was brought to its attention. However, defacement of its pillars continued despite efforts to prevent it by the departments of archaeology and tourism.
An official from the Department of Archaeology said that Rs 3 crore was sanctioned by Tourism Department to renovate the palace. “It was renovated in 1995-96 at a cost of Rs 76.31 lakh, in 2003-2004 at Rs 1 crore (based on the recommendations of the 11th Finance Commission) and in 2008-2009 at Rs 3 crore (based on the recommendations of the 12th Finance Commission.) To maintain the 96+ monuments in Tamil Nadu, the State government allots Rs 2 crore annually, using which minor restoration works like leakage arrest was carried out in the palace last year.”
History
The palace was built by King Thirumalai Nayakkar in 1636 AD with a view to shifting his capital from Tiruchy to Madurai. The original structure, it is believed, was four times bigger than the main portion that remains today. The grandeur wanned after the king’s grandson Chokkanatha Nayakkar pulled down the palace to carry materials back to Tiruchy to build a palace there. In 1858, the then Governor of Madras Presidency, Lord Napier, carried out restoration works. Post-Independence, it was used as Madurai-Ramnad District Court till 1970, after which it was declared a ‘Protected Monument’.
Attraction
After the onset of the tourist season, the Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal, the second most attractive tourist spot after the Meenakshi Amman Temple in the city, are seeing at least 11,000 footfalls every day.
Winged visitors or sky rats?
Officials said “The major part of the project is to net open spaces to prevent pigeons from entering the palace. We will use weightless fibre nets to cover the centre portion and weldmesh to cover the smaller openings on the sides. Traditional Chettinad construction materials will be used.” Works, however, will not hamper visit of tourists.