VELLORE: When travelling across the Arcot region, it’s hard to miss the stunning but dilapidated choultries along the way. These magnificent structures -- believed to have been constructed during the period of Chinna Bommi Nayak, a descendent of the Vijayanagara Empire -- catered to travellers and tourists in the region for hundreds of years. But now, they are in a state of utter neglect.
“There are many such choultries or mandapams in the Arcot region,” says archaeological researcher R Mani. “Most of them are located along the banks of rivers or streams, so that travellers did not have struggle for water. They were constructed around 15-16 century AD.” The interesting thing about these choultries was the ownership pattern. Most of these structures were built on private land, by landlords especially for pilgrims.
Now, unfortunately, it’s the very ownership patter that is preventing the conservation of these heritage structures. Take the case of the choultry located at Vettuvanam, off the busy Chennai-Bengaluru Highway. The structure (as seen in the picture) has been lying in a state of neglect for a long time. The building is crumbling, and wild vegetation has covered the place.
Local residents are keen to preserve the structure, but they are unable to locate the owner of the land on which it stands. Their efforts to trace him have not yielded results till date. “Since it belongs to a private person, nobody is coming forward to save the structure,” rues Krishnamurthy, a resident of Vettuvanam. “If renovated, these beautiful structures will continue to serve travellers and tourists.”
They are hoping the government may have an answer to preserving these structures.