It seems like the iconic temple received a facelift and immediately attracted everyone’s interest, thanks to its vibrant and fresh paint job.
The move got a positive response and praises from Malaysians, saying that it was good effort to not only maintain the temple but to also attract more tourists.
But amidst all the love for the newly revamped temple, comes a news piece that may dampen all the efforts to beautify the temple.
On Wednseday, The Star reported that the paint job and renovation works were not approved by the National Heritage Department (JWN), and this in turn could land the temple’s committee in hot water.
It is said that the Sri Subramaniar Swamy Temple is listed as a National Heritage site and any development on the temple must go through the heritage department.
Not only that, the refurbishment has put the temple on the risk of being delisted from the heritage list as the works done was “not in harmony with the surroundings” and a “disaster”.
However, Batu Caves Sri Mahamariamman Temple Devasthanam committee chairman Tan Sri R. Nadarajah told The Star that they had obtained the necessary approvals for the renovation works.
“The paint job does not require any approval. For the renovation, we had approval from Selayang Municipal Council (MPS).”
“Since we are not constructing any new building, we did not need to seek approval from JWN,’’ Nadarajah said.
Meanwhile, MPS corporate affairs deputy director Ahmad Fauzi Ishak said there were no records of any approval whatsoever.
It was reported that the new paintwork and renovation cost a whopping RM6.1 million to date.
Well, we hope this matter can be resolved soon. It’s very refreshing to see the temple looking so colourful for a change and we’re pretty sure a lot of Malaysians and tourists are happy with how it looks now.
So please, let the colours stay.