If the famous Ranganatha temple were in Colombo, instead of Tiruchirapalli, India, would Sri Lanka have been a more peaceful place?

Scholars have had various views on that.

The story of how Lord Ranganatha's idol came to lie in Trichy - instead of Sri Lanka - is now being given a modern twist in Tamil Nadu. 

The epics say Lord Ram gifted an idol of Lord Ranganatha to Ravana's brother, Vibhishana, to express his gratitude for helping him win the Lanka war. After the coronation of Ram in Ayodhya, Vibhishana was returning to Sri Lanka and he placed the idol near Trichy. Later, he found he could not move the idol from the spot. 

Devotees believe that Lord Ranganatha refused to leave the spot, where the famous Lord Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam now stands. 

What if Vibhishana had taken the Ranganatha idol to Sri Lanka and built a temple there? Would it have changed Sri Lanka's history? Would it have prevented the Tamil unrest that the world witnessed centuries later? 

Chandrika Kumaratunga, former president of the island nation, believed Lord Ranganatha could create peace in Sri Lanka. 

She wanted to build a Ranganatha temple in Colombo, because, she believed, a Hindu temple would pacify the warring Tamils. 

She entrusted the work to famous sculptor V Ganapati Sthapati. 

The work for a colossal idol and sanctum sanctorum started at Ganapati Sthapati's workshop at Mahabalipuram in 1999, and continued till the end of 2005, when Chandrika Kumaratunga's term ended. Mahinda Rajapaksa succeeded her as president. 

The idol and the carved stone pieces for the sanctum sanctorum had been completed by then. But they still lie in Ganapati Sthapati's workshop, unclaimed by the Sri Lankan government. 
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Sniffer dogs enter active service

Upon successful completion of specialised training in detecting explosive substances, two sniffer dogs have been inducted to active service at the detective dog squad of Tiruchi police. Belonging to the Labrador breed, ‘Ricky' and ‘Dheeraj' underwent rigorous training exclusively in sniffing explosive substances at the Detective Dog Training School in Coimbatore for a period of six months. The one-year-old dogs are replacements for the aged ‘Lucky' and ‘Bruno' that were retired after serving the police department for over seven years here. ‘Ricky' and ‘Dheeraj' were sent for specialised training after undergoing basic training in obedience for four months here. The handlers were sent to Coimbatore along with the dogs during the training period. Handlers say the canines were imparted thorough training in detecting different types of explosive substances including gun powder concealed in humans, bags, buildings, and vehicles. The newly inducted dogs were recently put into real time missions–a bomb threat in Samayapuram Sri Mariamman temple and during the visit of former Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K.Advani to Madurai. The daily practice session for the sniffer dogs commences with a morning walk at 7 a.m. followed by obedience test and a set of exercises to detect explosive substances for the next two hours. The practice session starts earlier at 6 a.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays. Unless there is an emergency requirement, Sunday is a rest day for the dogs, say the handlers.

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Commissioner takes charge

V.P.Dhandapani assumed charge as the Commissioner of Tiruchi Corporation on Sunday. Mr.Dhandapani was previously the Regional Director of Municipal Administration, Chengalpattu.

He replaces K.R.Selvaraj, the Regional Director of MunicipalAdministration, Thanjavur, who has been holding charge as Commissioner over the past three months after K.Veera Raghava Rao, the former Commissioner, was transferred in February end.

In a press release, Mr.Dhandapani promised to accord priority for improving civic amenities in the city and address public grievances.

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Verification of data for GIS commences in Tiruchi

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Work on verifying the data in the base map for the Geographic Information System (GIS) has been taken up in the city. The verification process would be taken up in a phased manner, commencing in the ward 44.

The data pertaining to buildings, roads, drinking water pipelines, hospitals, educational institutions, bus stands, transport routes, parks, play ground, burial ground, and other information have been gathered and the base map has been prepared.

In a release here on Thursday, K.R. Selvaraj, Corporation Commissioner (in-charge) said that the team members from the Tata Consulting Services with identity cards would visit each and every house and collect the data.

He has appealed to the members of the public to extend their cooperation by furnishing the relevant information.

The city corporation was selected as a model unit for this ‘g-governance' under the Tamil Nadu Urban Development Programme (III).

7UP Lemon Pattalam team from Trichy to play with CSK

With the third edition of the Indian Premier League set to reach a crescendo, the cricket-loving youth of Tamil Nadu has another reason to cheer for – and this time it is not for Chennai Super Kings but for their local 7UP Lemon Pattalam team which will take on CSK in their own turf.



The seven-member ‘7UP Lemon Pattalam team from Trichy selected after the rigorous and highly-competitive league stage - is going to take on their role models and cricketing icons - the Chennai Super Kings. The winners were chosen after an intense two month-long competition.

7UP Lemon Pattalam is a unique concept which gives an opportunity to regular cricket fans in the state to match skills with CSK. Congratulating the 7Up Lemon Pattalam winners, Ms. Alpana Titus, Executive Vice President, Flavours, PepsiCo India, said, “It is very heartening to see youth from Tamil Nadu compete with each other to meet their dream idols and play against them. For us at 7UP, as indeed in the country, cricket is the religion which brings together people across barriers of geography, gender and age.”

Mr. V Chandrashekar, Director of Cricketing Operations - CSK, said, “We are quite excited and would wish the winning team good luck for their final match with CSK. The CSK team is looking forward to play against these budding 7UP Lemon Pattalam champions.”

The second season of 7UP Lemon Pattalam witnessed about 1400 teams from 14 cities of Tamil Nadu, out of which 16 teams got selected for quarter finals.

Prakash Raj delighted with response for ‘Payanam'

TIRUCHI: Coming as ‘Payanam' does as the fourth film in a winning combo with director Radha Mohan, after ‘Azhagiya Theeyae,' ‘Mozhi' and ‘Abhiyum Naanum', Prakash Raj's exhilaration knows no bounds.

Quality fare

“It is yet another attempt at providing quality fare. When compared to our previous films, ‘Payanam' comes as a different subject altogether: airline hijack. We have also tried a few things like doing away with song sequences and using Red One camera. The output is really satisfying,” says Prakash Raj, who was here on Monday to promote the film.

‘Payanam' has also marked the re-entry of actor Nagarjuna in Tamil cinema after more than a decade. “The film is a bilingual (‘Gaganam' in Telugu) and I thought that an actor who is familiar with both Tamil and Telugu audiences would fit the bill. When Radha Mohan felt that Nagarjuna would be apt for the role of a commando, I had no second thoughts. Nagarjuna accepted the offer readily,” recalls Prakash Raj, who has essayed an important role in the movie.

The fan base of Radha Mohan has been expanding with each film, reckons Prakash Raj. “Through his movies, Radha Mohan has proved his mettle. He has a fan following abroad as well. The performance of ‘Payanam' in U.S. and other countries is sufficient proof.”


The national-award winning actor says that as a producer he enjoys complete freedom. “As an actor I live out someone else's dream. And as a producer I can explore and experiment a lot more,” explains Prakash Raj.

Challenging film

Director Radha Mohan said ‘Payanam' was a challenging film and a lot of research had gone into its making. He also heaped rich praise on cameraman K.V. Guhan, art director Kathir and dialogue writer T.J. Gnanavel.

According to S. Sridhar, joint-secretary, Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association, ‘Payanam' was doing brisk business.

The audience response at the Cauvery theatre here, with whom Prakash Raj, Radha Mohan and Gnanavel interacted during intermission, was enough indication.

TRICHINOPOLY RAILWAY STATION IN SOUTH INDIA 1876[2] the rock Ceylon illuminated for the prince