Kerala alcohol ban: Prohibition will leave many deities thirsty in kerala

Kozhikode: Several local deities are bound to go thirsty with the government move to bring in total prohibition. For, there are a number of temples in the state that offer both toddy and IMFL to the deities.

In places such as Balussery and Vatakara in Kozhikode, many households, as part of their age-old tradition, brew liquor in their homes and offer it to their family deity annually for ‘kalasam’ ritual.

At Sri Kallery Kuttichathan temple, near Villiapally in Vatakara, the main offering is a 180 ml IMFL bottle.

So when the Christian clergy demands permission to use wine during rituals, their Hindu counterparts will be justified in raising a similar demand when prohibition is imposed.

The government cannot afford to ‘hurt religious sentiments’ and experts point out that it will have to grant concessions for such ritualistic brewing and use of liquor.

“My family has been offering kalasam to our ‘paradevatha’ using liquor brewed in our house,” a native of Balussery told DC.