Stock of stale aravana to be destroyed soon: Travancore Devaswom Board
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The huge stock of stale aravana at the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple will be destroyed shortly, said the Travancore Devaswom Board. The containers will be transported to Kottayam where they will be opened and the contents segregated.
“The process will begin after the monthly pooja ends on September 21. The work to destroy the stock was awarded to a Kottayam-based company. The company will open the cans at their facility in Kottayam and segregate the aravana. The aravana will be sent to Hyderabad where it would be used for manure production,” Travancore Devaswom Board president P S Prasanth told TNIE.
The president said the board would take precautions to avoid misuse of the stock. “The transportation, opening of cans and segregation of aravana will be under the supervision of our officers. This is to prevent misuse of aravana,” he said.
The Supreme Court had earlier directed the state government and the TDB to make joint efforts to dispose of the stock. Accordingly, the TDB invited Expressions of Interest from agencies interested to take up the contract.
The Kottayam-based company quoted the lowest amount of Rs 1.16 crore which was later reduced to Rs 1.15 crore following negotiations with the TDB. Two other agencies that participated in the EoI quoted higher amounts of Rs 1.80 crore and Rs 1.50 crore.
Old stock
The old stock comprising 6.65 lakh cans of aravana (priced at Rs 5.50 crore) was prepared during the previous pilgrimage season.
Its sale was withheld following an order from the High Court on January 11, 2023. The order was based on reports by the Government Analyst’s Laboratory and the Spices Board Laboratory that the cardamom used for aravana preparation had pesticide content above the permissible level. However, a national laboratory assigned by the Supreme Court later reported that the aravana was safe for consumption. The SC was acting on an appeal filed by the TDB.
Buffer stock
The TDB will start the preparation of buffer stock of aravana for the mandalam-makaravilakku festival season well in advance. Last year, the buffer stock preparation began on November 1.
“This year we will start work on October 20. The plan is to stock 35-40 lakh containers at the start of the pilgrimage season,” Prasanth said. The buffer stock will help to avoid a shortage of aravana. Last year, the peak days of the festival saw the sale of 2.50-4 lakh tins.
KSRTC bus tickets
The TDB has plans to offer a facility for devotees to book KSRTC bus tickets through the Virtual Queue system. The board will hold a meeting with the KSRTC shortly.
The Virtual Queue, the online booking system for darshan, will be opened one month ahead of the start of the mandalam-makaravilakku season.