PATHANAMTHITTA: Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has initiated a series of ‘prayaschitha’ (atonement) and ‘parihara’ (remedial) rituals at prominent temples across Kerala and neighbouring Karnataka to implement recommendations made during the 2018 ‘Ashtamangala Devaprasnam’ at Sabarimala, saying several prescribed rituals had remained pending for years.
The board has also sanctioned an initial amount of `5 lakh for the exercise and assigned an official to coordinate the rituals, which will be conducted in phases at around 25 temples.
According to TDB president K Jayakumar, the board was merely completing the remedial measures recommended in the 2018 Devaprasnam. “In the 2018 Devaprasnam, several ‘parihara kriyas’ were prescribed.
Some were performed then, particularly those that had to be conducted at Sabarimala with the tantri and melshanti. However, the rituals that had to be performed at other temples were left incomplete,” he told TNIE.
He said the ongoing exercise includes rituals at nearly 25 temples, including the Kollur Mookambika temple in Karnataka. “These are not major ceremonies.
They are small ‘prayaschitta kriyas’. If a Devaprasnam is conducted, the prescribed remedial measures should also be completed. Otherwise, there is little purpose in conducting the Devaprasnam itself,” he said.
Jayakumar said the Devaprasnam had identified ritual lapses, including “vak dosham” (offence through speech) and displeasure of deities. “The belief is that if prescribed remedies are not carried out, consequences associated with those ‘doshas’ will continue. We have seen several problems affecting the administration in recent years,” he said.