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).