Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and deputy chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Monday laid the foundation stone for the memorial of late AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa on the Marina beach.
The sprawling memorial coming up adjacent to the memorial of party founder MG Ramachandran is designed like a phoenix with two lion statues at the entrance.
The party sources said the design was agreed on by all the senior AIADMK leaders as the phoenix design and the lion statues will mark the never give up character of Jayalalithaa and also signify her bold decisions in her political life.
CM Palaniswami said the memorial would be completed within 12 months. It would feature landscaped gardens and a mausoleum for Jayalalithaa. Beside the memorial, a museum is set to come up.
Marking the earth breaking ceremony, Palaniswami placed the first brick for the construction on the ground, and Panneerselvam who is also the party connvenor placed the second brick at the gala event attended by all AIADMK ministers and MLAs. A special yagam was also conducted. Lok Sabha deputy speaker M. Thambidurai also attended the event.
According to PWD sources, the memorial would be built at a cost of '50.80 crore and the access area for the public will be widened, as the complex will now house the mausoleums of the three former popular CMs, CN Annadurai, MGR and Jayalalithaa. Besides, some opposition politicians, a section of youngsters and beach goers expressed unhappiness over the construction of one more memorial at Marina.
“The beach will be reduced to a memorial if this habit of construction of mausoleums continues. Maybe, after another 100 years, the beach will have less sand and more concrete structures”, said N. Balaji, an avid bird watcher who frequents Marina.
