A stroll in the garden at night will be possible in a few months time with the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) laying the foundation for a glow garden at Mamallapuram.
The garden with glowing trees, 3D animals, LED flowers, artificial fountain, selfie points, glow water park, food court, 5D cinema and a small amusement park will come up inside the Maragatha Poonga situated inside Mamallapuram town. Parking space will be created for 150 vehicles on a land adjacent to the poonga.
The project is to come up in public private partnership mode with the land being provided by TTDC and Sunvin Mamallapuram Glow Garden LLP developing, operating and maintaining the facilities. The revenue will be shared between the two entities.
The glow garden will span 10,038 square metres (2.48 acres) and is expected to come up at a cost of around ₹8 crore. “The garden is likely to be ready by December. Such glow gardens can be seen in other places like Telengana and Dubai. The area in and around Mamallapuram is witnessing a lot of development in terms of entertainment. A sound and light show has been planned at Arjuna’s penance. We have organised several events at the TTDC’s ground near Muttukadu,” said an official of the TTDC.
Balan, a tourist guide at Mamallapuram, said that such a garden would provide entertainment to tourists visiting the town after sunset. “The town needs to be planned and space allotted for all activities. One must remember that infrastructure too needs to be developed to accommodate the expected additional influx of visitors,” he said.
