Kerala High Court Orders Response on Sabarimala Prasadam Quality

The Kerala High Court has requested responses from the Travancore Devasom Board and the FSSAI regarding a petition from a devotee of the Sabarimala temple. The petitioner seeks a standard operating procedure for procuring ingredients and ensuring quality checks for appam and aravana prasadam, the sacred offerings that all pilgrims must purchase. Sales of these prasadam items generate a significant portion of the temple’s income.

Petition Calls for Modern Lab to Test Prasadam Ingredients

The petitioner also emphasizes the need to establish a modern laboratory for inspecting, sampling, testing, and quality-checking the ingredients used in making appam and aravana. The ingredients are procured through an e-tender process well in advance of the two-month festival season, which begins in the third week of November. This request follows the court’s involvement in the previous festival season when authorities discovered that the aravana supply contained cardamom with insecticide levels exceeding the permitted limit.

Sabarimala Temple: A Sacred Destination

Nestled in the Western Ghats at an elevation of 914 meters, the Sabarimala temple sits four kilometres uphill from Pamba in the Pathanamthitta district, approximately 100 kilometres from the state capital. The temple only allows girls who have not reached puberty to enter and is accessible only on foot from the Pamba River. Pilgrims typically observe a rigorous 41-day penance before embarking on their journey to the holy shrine, abstaining from footwear, wearing a black dhoti, and adhering to a strict vegetarian diet. Each pilgrim must carry an ‘Irumudi’ kit, which includes coconuts that they must break before ascending the 18 steps at the ‘Sannidhanam,’ a mandatory ritual for stepping onto the holy stairs.

Source: Mathrubhumi