THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Devaswom Minister K Muraleedharan and the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) are at odds once again. This time, over the customary Onam sadya at Sabarimala temple.
Criticising TDB for its alleged failure to serve sadya to devotees, Muraleedharan said it was a break with a tradition followed for many years and ordered an inquiry into the matter.
TDB president K Jayakumar rejected the allegation, saying sadya was served to 3,000 devotees. “It is wrong to portray it as a failure. There is some truth in what the minister said. Pulav was distributed at the annadanam mandapam. Sadya was served at the employees’ mess. Apart from employees, we served sadya to 3,000 devotees. The annadanam was pulav, not sadya. Those who wanted pulav had pulav, and those who wanted sadya had sadya,” he said.
Jayakumar, however, conceded that sadya was not served to all the devotees. He explained that this year, the sadya for mess staff was organised by the board itself. It was a departure from the practice in which staff arranged it on their own. The police and the melsanthi, too, did not organise sadya on Onam days as in previous years.
Responding to Jayakumar’s clarification, Muraleedharan said the board’s claim was not the reality. “Why should they break with a tradition that has been followed for several years?” he asked. He pointed out that sadya was traditionally served on Uthradom, Thiruvonam and Avittam days. This year, it was held only on Thiruvonam day.”