A priest who attends to a small, private Amman temple in the Mandaveli Street and market zone and local people who patronise this shrine are put off by the attitude of a private restaurant located next door.
The charge against the biriyani fast-food joint here is that not only is non-vegetarian food cooked and sold next to the religious place but that, after dark, some people consume liquor closeby, even as they partake of the food they buy at this food joint. Liquor bottles are also dumped in the temple area, people allege.
Recently, the priest hung a notice board on the temple door saying that the temple could not function because of the actions of the food joint.
Local shop keepers say this biriyani joint has been functioning here for some months now, was closed the past months and re-opened recently; most of its business is take-away and that food is not cooked there.
Others admitted that some men consume liquor locally now and then in this area and this must be irking devotees of the temple.
