Parking woes haunt visitors to Thirumalainayakar palace

Madurai: It is one of the prominent historical monuments in Madurai but those visiting Thirumalainayakar palace are unlikely to come again due to the harrowing experience they have parking their vehicles. Absence of a dedicated parking lot forces tourists to park along Palace Road, a route also used for accessing the bustling textile bazaar, thus worsening the congestion.
About 3,000 visitors including foreign tourists throng the palace, which is administered by Archaeological Survey of India, on weekends and 1,000 to 1,500 on weekdays.Though a small parking space was available on the left side of the campus before Covid-19, it has been closed after renovation inside the campus, say shopkeepers. Visitors to the district registrar office a few hundred metres away add to the traffic chaos.
Commuters suggest that the vacant land inside the palace grounds be utilized for parking. “The existing two-way road is becoming congested even after it was designated as one-way. No one from the tourism department or corporation regulates parking,” said K G Prasanth, a regular commuter.
A bus stop located right in front of the palace entrance and the corporation ward office opposite to it are also being blamed for the frequent traffic snarls on Palace Road. Complaints have also been raised about the poor state of the road. Silt removed from the drainage by corporation workers is often left uncollected, making the road an eyesore and reducing its width. A corporation official said the recent rains have caused water-logging near the palace necessitating removal of silt.
Tourists are now asked to park vehicles on nearby lanes like Mahal Vadampokki Street and Panthadi Street which are becoming increasingly congested. A tourism initiative titled 'Best of Tamil Nadu,' launched by the Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce in Madurai, has also sought dedicated and regulated parking in the vicinity.
An official of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) said representations have been made to the district administration and the corporation to relocate the bus stop and ward office. “If this is done, we will be able to utilize some space for parking vehicles,” he said.
T. Nageshwaran, a traffic activist, pointed out that inadequate parking facilities distract tourists from the monument’s aesthetic appeal. He suggested converting a part of the corporation park on the Mahal campus into a vehicle parking area. “The park is often underutilized and lacks an entry fee. This conversion into parking space could both generate revenue for the corporation and solve the parking problem,” he added.