Overview
- Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay formally inaugurated Periyar Arivulagam on Friday and unveiled a large statue of social reformer E. V. Ramasamy during a visit that included a roadshow from Coimbatore airport to Gandhipuram.
- The facility occupies about seven acres and houses an eight‑storey complex with a planetarium, a digital library, a children’s library, interactive science exhibits, specialised study halls and over 125,000 physical books.
- The project was built at an estimated cost of Rs 300 crore, with reporting breaking that down into roughly Rs 245 crore for construction and about Rs 50 crore for books and e‑resources.
- Large crowds and heavy security marked the opening with police barricades, an enforced drone ban along the route and reporting that roughly 3,500 officers were deployed for the event.
- The centre was conceived and its foundation stone laid under the previous DMK administration, a fact highlighted by DMK leader M.K. Stalin after the opening and framing the inauguration as a point of political contest over credit for the project.