SMILE volunteers clean Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple

Srirangam, Tamil Nadu, Nov 28 (UNI) The ancient Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple, considered as 'Bhooloka Vaikuntam' (Heaven on the Earth) was given a fresh look by the volunteers of Selfless Movement Improving Life Everywhere (SMILE), a Chennai-based voluntary service organisation.

As many as 65 volunteers from Chennai and Tiruchirapalli divided into five batches cleaned the Sri Ranga mandapam, Praharas around Ranganayaki Thaayar Sannidhi (shrine of the Goddess), outer Praharas of the sanctum sanctorum, where the presiding deity 'Sri Ranganatha Swamy' is housed and several mandapams inside the temple complex, P Ranjani, a committee member of SMILE told UNI.

The volunteers removed cobwebs from all the mandapams, including the 1000 pillar mandapam, swept the entire temple and removed oil stains gathered in different portions of the temple. They brought all the equipment required for cleaning. After three days of intensive cleaning by the women volunteers, the appearance of the temple has changed much to the delight of the devotees, she added.

She said volunteers take up the task of cleaning historic temples, as part of their annual project by cleaning at least six temples every month.

The work was taken up this month to make the temple clean and neat before the coming 'Vaikunta Ekadasi' festival in which hundreds of thousands of people from various parts of the country were expected to participate, she added.

Started three years ago, SMILE has so far taken up cleaning work in over 350 places of worship, including temples, churches and gurdwaras. The organisation also conducts free medical camps, eye screening camps and provides volunteers for crowd management for festivals including Srivari Seva at Tirupati temple. Last year, the volunteers cleaned the Sri Jambukeswarar-Akhilandeswari temple at Tiruvanaikovil and the famous Arulmigu Mariyamman temple at Samayapuram near here.

The volunteers would take up similar cleaning projects in the historic Sri Prasanna Venkatachalapathy temple at Gunaseelam near here, she added.

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