Sabarimala Ayyappa temple (PTI temple)

Kochi: The Kerala High Court has directed the TDB to exercise due care and caution to ensure that the materials procured for the preparation of 'prasadam' are in conformity with the prescribed quality standards and the religious customs and requirements applicable to the Sabarimala temple. A bench of justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and K V Jayakumar issued the direction while disposing of a plea filed in 2021 claiming that 'halal jaggery' was being reportedly used to prepare 'aravana' and 'appam' for distribution at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala and to stop using it.

'Aravana', a payasam made out of jaggery and rice, and 'appam' - a sweet rice and jaggery based fritter - are 'prasadam' (sacred offering) given to devotees at the Ayyappa temple.
The petitioner, S J R Kumar, had specifically contended that the 'halal' certification signifies that the jaggery was prepared in accordance with the religious beliefs and practices of another community and would render it unsuitable as 'satwik' or pure material for being offered to Lord Ayyappa.
The bench said that the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) procured the jaggery via an e-tender process and the top bidder was required to supply 19,96,034 kilograms of jaggery powder.
The court said that the Maharashtra-based company also exported jaggery to certain countries in West Asia for that the packaging bore the 'halal' certification marking.
"Ideally, the Travancore Devaswom Board ought to have exercised greater care to ensure that the quantity of jaggery supplied by the manufacturer did not bear symbols, markings or declarations that could give rise to an apprehension of conflict with the religious customs and practices followed at the temple."
"However, having regard to the analysis reports placed before us, we find that the quality of the jaggery supplied was satisfactory and that the testing did not reveal the presence of any substance or element which would render it unsuitable for use in the preparation of prasadam," it said and disposed of the petition.
While disposing of the plea, it directed the Board to exercise due care and caution in future and to incorporate appropriate and necessary conditions in the e-tender documents to ensure that materials procured for the preparation of 'prasadam' "are in conformity with the prescribed quality standards as well as the religious customs and requirements applicable to the temple".


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