Madurai: Charming cottage, with tile roofs and steps that lead to it, stand in the midst of a group of acid trees and Neem on a vast campus on Jalan Madurai-Natham on the north side of Madurai City.
Now at the center of political controversy.
The site chosen for the Kalaaignar Memorial Library has experienced controversy as it says the residence of the Col John Pennycuick, who built a multaperiyar dam, and was worshiped by many villages in the southern district.
But historians and even fans said the opportunities for Pennycuick who lived in Madurai were equally impossible.
One of the first announcements made by the new government in Tamil Nadu is the establishment of the RS 70 Crore Library in Madurai.
This house on the PWD land, which has the appearance of ancient English era, is popularly known as the house where the Live Pennycuick Col.
So, when the decision was announced to build a library on this land, part of the farmer, the Federation of Farmers Ayacut Periyar-Vaigai, opposed it said that Pennycuick’s house should not be destroyed.
Opposition parties, including AIADMK and PMK, also opposed the selected sites, insisted that it was a legacy site.
Madurai District collector Dr S Aneesh Sekhar said the building was built between 1912 and 1913, after the death of Pennycuick on March 9, 1911.
This information was obtained from the PWD building registry.
Minister PWD E V Velu said AIDMK opposed development activities without basis.
Historian S Duraisamy, who has examined the life of the Pennycuick colent in his thesis, ‘Project Periyar A Study’, said, “I visited Archives in Chennai and I had seen a handwritten letter by Pennycuick and correspondence with the British government for construction.
From the dam.
But no There is a reference place for him to live in Madurai.
“Duraisamy said the distance from Madurai to Thekkady where the Mullasyar Dam had been built will make it impossible for engineers to establish camps in Madurai.
Meanwhile, fans and worshipers in Pallarpatti were led by O Andi, 42, who had celebrated the birthday of the birth of Pennycuick in his village since 2000, has written a booklet at the end of the engineer.
He believes Pennycuick does not live in Madurai.
Andi has named his daughter Sara Sanjugi after Mrs.
Pennycuick Sarah.
There are many who have Pennycuick as part of their name in the village of Palarpatti and Veerapandi.
The house he lived in the bottom camp near the dam was where the items were on display.
There are warning statues and bronze from Pennycuick too.
“This is quite impressive,” Shanmugam said, a village resident of Themi who adored the photo of the engineer.