-Shalini Chandrasekaran (editorial1@imaws.org)
When it comes to bustling cities in Tamil Nadu, Madurai is the first that comes to mind. The city is incredibly busy 24 hours a day. And then there’s the food parotta, kari dosa, watery chutney, and a wide variety of non-vegetarian dishes – the culinary delights of Madurai are endless. In this vibrant city of Madurai, ‘Temple City Hotel’ is attracting customers with its more than 20 branches.
While expanding this hotel chain on the highways, S.J. Abhiram Vikas, the Managing Director of Temple City Hotel, spoke to us. “We first opened ‘Temple City Hotel’ in Madurai in 2003, opposite the Mattuthavani bus stand. At that time, South Indian dishes, including those from Andhra Pradesh, as well as North Indian and Chinese cuisines, were only available in star hotels in Madurai. We changed this, making all these dishes accessible to ordinary people. We were the first to offer these kinds of dishes in a restaurant in Madurai. That’s our benchmark!
How did you expand?
We opened restaurants on the Madurai-Dindigul and Madurai-Trichy highways in collaboration with Bharat Petroleum. Only after that did other popular restaurants start focusing on highways. The unique feature of Madurai is that all the surrounding roads are four-lane highways. Therefore, our ‘Temple City Hotel’ is operating on 6-7 four-lane highways. Two new branches are also set to open soon as highway restaurants.”
These highway restaurants have shaded parking facilities. Many people hesitate to park their cars in the sun, but we don’t have that problem. We also have clean restrooms and electric car charging facilities at all our highway restaurants. For travelers on the highways, we offer tea, coffee, and juices, along with traditional sweets like Srivilliputhur Palkova and Iruttukadai Halwa, as well as our own brand of Valarmathi Sweets & Snacks. We also offer homemade spice powders, pickles, chutneys, and dried snacks under the name ‘Temple City Food Products’. These can be purchased at our restaurants and online.
Temple City on Trends
During the COVID-19 pandemic, to raise awareness about masks, we prepared ‘Mask Parotta’, which went viral. We also introduced a bonda shaped like the coronavirus. This is how we adapt ourselves to current trends.
Shopping at the Restaurant
In addition to this, to promote Indian handicrafts, we have set up a store called ‘Blossoms Handicraft’ in all our restaurants. To benefit tourists visiting Tamil Nadu, we have included handicrafts related to Madurai here. Furthermore, visitors from abroad can see Indian handicrafts all in one store. Many products from national award-winning artisans are featured in our store. With the aim of helping women’s self-help groups, their products are also available with us. Besides, items like purses and bags made by differently-abled individuals are also available at our ‘Blossoms Handicraft’ store.
Priority to Locals
Only 20% of the employees at our Temple City Hotel are from North India. The rest are all locals. Since our branches are generally located on highways, we provide employment opportunities to people in the surrounding villages. Even if they have no prior experience, we provide them with three months of paid training before employing them. And 70-80 percent of our employees are women,” he concluded.
“Wishing you continuous growth!”
Translation by: Khwaish Hingad
