MADURAI/DINDIGUL/THANJAVUR: A customary gold chain, weighing 108 sovereigns, is waiting in the locker of Madurai corporation for the new mayor. Former mayor M Thiraviyam said the large gold chain was given to the first mayor of Madurai corporation, S. Muthu, during MG Ramachandran’s tenure as chief minister.
“For the swearing-in ceremony, the chain is brought from the corporation locker. The mayor will wear it at all council meetings. Later, the chain will be taken back to the locker,” he said. Another former mayor of Madurai, VV Rajan Chellappa, said the chain has never been changed.
“Only periodic repair works and polishing were carried out on the chain,” he pointed out. Both former mayors said they don’t know the significance of its weight. The custom of wearing a gold chain is not limited to Madurai corporation, as mayor of Dindigul corporation also wear a chain weighing 101 sovereigns.
In 2014, when Thanjavur municipality was upgraded to a corporation, the corporation administration ordered a chain weighing 100 sovereigns for the mayor to wear during council meetings.