Kapaleeswarar Temple gopurams light up in colourful hues

Devotees visiting the Kapaleeswarar Temple in Mylapore in the evenings for the past few days have been craning their necks to see the figures of various deities on the two gopurams and six vimanams colourfully lit up.

The East and West gopurams (decorative towers at the entrances), and six vimanams (shorter towers above the respective shrines) above the shrines of Lord Kapaleeswarar, Arulmigu Karpagambal, Sri Singaravelar, Sri Narthana Vinayakar, Sri Arunachaleswarar, Sri Sundareswarar have been lit up at a cost of ₹1.95 crore. The Neerazhi Mandapam in the middle of the temple tank too has been lit up by LED lights.

Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments P.K. Sekarbabu, who inaugurated the lighting system recently, said that it was part of an Assembly announcement. “Many tourists who are interested in the art and architecture of the temple visit the place. The lighting would be an added attraction for them. Children would be delighted to see the tall gopurams light up,” he said. 

“We have installed focus lamps on poles and not touched the structure of the temple in any manner. The colours will change every 2-3 seconds. Though we have a palette of 50,000 colours to choose from, we have picked seven basic colours for now. The lights will have good life and last for 10-15 years,” said R.K. Manivannan of RKM Electricals whose company will maintain the lights for a period of three years.