more-in MADURAI It was 165 days ago when S. Parthasarathy last covered his tailoring machine with a loose cloth at his shop in Pudu Mandapam here and went for a night cap. What followed that fateful day was an enormous fire at the Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple. The inferno charred many portions of the Veeravasantha Rayar Mandapam on the eastern side and led to closure of the Pudu Mandapam to avoid future accidents. On Tuesday, the hall was reopened and shopkeepers walked in with gleeful yet anxious smiles. “The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on June 4 has given us time until December 31 to keep the shops open in Pudu Mandapam. However, over the 300 traders here have no assurance of what will happen to us thereafter,” said G. Muthupandi, president of the Pudu Mandapam Traders and Tailors’ Association. There are 154 tailoring shops, 34 utensil shops, 32 bookshops, 32 shops selling pooja articles, 32 selling jewellery and trinkets and about 10 to 15 selling tailoring goods, says Mr. Muthupandi. “Only about 50 traders can survive outside of their daily jobs here. Others have to go door-to-door, seeking home for forgotten traditional art,” he says. A senior official from the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department says that all shops that are to open in the coming days will have to submit an undertaking by the notary public stating that they would vacate the premises by December 31. Without any alternative sites for the shops, the shopkeepers say that they will be reduced to roads. Mr. Muthupandi says that in 2010, the traders signed a document stating that they would move to the alternative Kunnathur Chatram when the Corporation finishes building the site. He hopes that the progress will be quick. “I asked my friends for work and did some odd jobs when the mandapam was shut. The family was put under an extensive strain. We had difficulty paying bills and fees. If I go back to that phase in the next five months, I, like many others here, will be a walking ghost,” says Mr. Parthasarathy. P. Madhavan, a textile shop owner, agrees and says that with a decline in traditional goods, shopkeepers are finding it difficult to relocate. S. Abdul Kader, a utensil shop owner, says that he hopes that there will be light at the end. “There has been immense unity. No one looks at religion or caste at Pudu Mandapam. The future is unsure but today I am happy,” he says.

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