KOCHI: The Makara Vilakku seen at Ponnambalamedu to the east of the Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala on Makara Sankranthi is manmade, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) told the Kerala High Court on Monday.
TDB secretary P R Anitha submitted two counter affidavits in the High Court and made it clear that Makara Jyothi is a natural phenomenon a star seen on the horizon.
In the affidavit it was said that the TDB had never called the phenomenon a divine light and for long the fire had been lit by tribals living on the hillock. The affidavit was filed in response to the demand by the court which is looking into a series of petitions filed after the stampede at Pulmedu, near Sabarimala, on January 14, including the petition filed by the Kerala Yukthivadi Sangham (KYS).
The TDB also urged the High Court to allow the ritual to continue as it is a belief of the pilgrims. The stampede, which killed 102 pilgrims, occurred when the pilgrims were returning after watching the Makara Vilakku and the Makara Jyothi.
The High Court had directed TDB Special Commissioner to submit an elaborate report on the Pulmedu tragedy. The KYS had sought a directive to the Kerala Govt to publish the report of the T Chandrasekhara Menon Commission of Inquiry into the stampede at Sabarimala on January 14, 1999, and take measures to prevent such tragedies and to direct the government to refrain from constituting any Commission of Inquiry to probe the Pulmedu stampede.
Another petitioner, Sreeni Pattathanam, had sought a declaration that the participation of the government through its departments such as the Police, Forest, Revenue and Electricity in a superstitious religious event was unconstitutional and violative of Article 27 of the Constitution.
"The TDB or any of its officials had not at any time conducted any propaganda to the effect that the light seen at Ponnambalamedu on Makara Sankranthi is 'divine' or that it is made by superhuman agency,'' the TDB secretary stated.
The lighting of the lamp at Ponnambalamedu was there even before the formation of the TDB in 1949, it was stated.
The TDB suggested that the deeparadhana at Ponnambalamedu may be allowed to be performed by a 'santhikaran' of the Travancore Devaswom at the time of the deeparadhana in the Sabarimala temple. This will remove all doubts about the deeparadhana at Ponnambalamedu without in any manner reducing its religious sanctity. The Forest, Police, Revenue and the KSEB may be directed to extend their cooperation to the TDB.