By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : The Travancore Devasom Board (TDB) Thursday held an emergency meeting here and decided to increase the production of the ‘prasadam’ or holy offering at the famed Sabarimala temple.
“The meeting was cordial and there is no difference of opinion between the members of the TDB. We have decided to immediately increase production of prasadam by purchasing more vessels to cook it,” TDB member P. Narayanan told reporters after the meeting.
The TDB, which looks into the administration of some 1,194 temples, including the Sabarimala temple, had convened the meeting as the prasadam shortage issue became a major cause of dissatisfaction among devotees.
Devotees have not been receiving prasadam adequately even after a month since the temple opened for nearly two-month long festival.
The annual festivities, that began Nov 17, have been plagued by a tiff among three officials of the TDB, its president C.K. Guptan, and members Narayanan and P.K. Sumathykutty Amma. The trouble started when the TDB took over the production of prasadam after a contractor failed to supply the required number of cans for prasadam.
Nearly 125,000 cans are required for distribution of the holy offering among about 50,000 devotees who visit the temple everyday.
Following the non-arrival of cans, the authorities last week began distributing the prasadam in buckets and vessels for the first time in the history of the temple.
Kerala Devasom Minister G. Sudhakaran told reporters that they were seriously discussing about forming a Trust similar to that, which runs the affairs of the Tirupathi temple.
“Once formed this Trust would look into the running of the Sabarimala festivities alone. The TDB would also be part of the Trust,” said Sudhakaran.
Meanwhile, a high level meeting of government officials was held Thursday at the temple. S. Sreejit, superintendent of police and in-charge of the temple’s security, told IANS that a decision to give bills on purchase by all shops in and around the temple has been taken during the meeting.
People generally complain of being cheated by the shopkeepers at the temple, Sreejit said and added that the system of giving bills on purchase will contain such activities.
“In view of the season that will peak next month we have planned for better queue system too,” he added.