79 monoliths and a mountain of challenges: reconstructing a Nayak-era wonder

The initiative to restore the Veera Vasantharayar Mandapam at the Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai, which burned in a fire, ran into many hurdles. After an uphill struggle, a team of around 150 sculptors, led by sthapathi V.P. Velmurugan of Tiruppur, managed to complete the project, with the renewed hall being formally inaugurated on August 30