Sabrimala, November 19: After hearing a petition alleging spoiled "halal-certified" jaggery was being used at the Sabarimala temple, the Kerala High Court asked the Travancore Devaswom Board and special commissioner at Sabarimala to immediately submit a report on the quality of jaggery used at the temple.
The Division Bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and PG Ajith Kumar has asked the Travancore Devaswom Board secretary, its commissioner, and the special commissioner at Sabarimala to immediately submit a report on the quality of jaggery used at the temple.
The petitioner is a devotee of Lord Ayappa and the present General Convenor of the Sabarimala Karma Samithi, an organisation to protect the customs and traditions of the Sabarimala Temple. He has filed a petition against the Travancore Devaswom Board that manages this famous shrine located at Sabarimala hill inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Perinad Village.
In his plea filed through Advocate V Sajith Kumar, he has asserted that the use of Satwik/pure materials for the preparation of Nivedyam is an age-old practice and highly necessary to maintain customary practices and beliefs at the Sabarimala Temple.
The petitioner, SJR, has said that halal-certified jaggery prepared as per Islamic practices can’t be offered to Lord Ayyappa and other deities at the Sabarimala temple. He alleged the temple authorities have been using halal-certified jaggery against the tradition of the temple.
He also pointed out that halal-certified jaggery is prepared as per the religious practises of Islam, and hence using the same for offering to the deity was against the religious customs and rituals of the temple. "It is highly disheartening to see that the food materials prepared following the rituals and religious practices of another religion with its certification are accepted as food materials for the preparation of Naivedyam/Prasada in a Hindu temple having its rituals and customs,’’ said the petitioner.
"The use of Halal certified food materials, which is specifically prepared as per the religious beliefs of another community, is not a Satwik/pure material to be offered to Lord Ayyappa, a Naishtika Brahmachari meditating in Yoga asana," he further pointed out.
The petitioner also referred to certain controversies in social media regarding the alleged practice of spitting on food materials to make it halal. He pointed out Muslim religious scholars have said that saliva is a necessary ingredient for certifying halal in the preparation of food materials as halal.
Travancore Devaswom Board chief K Ananthagopan, who is a senior leader of and senior CPI (M) leader, dismissed the allegations. He said that in 2018, a Maharashtra-based company supplied jaggery for Sabarimala. The said firm was engaged in exporting jaggery to Arabian countries hence some packets mentioned halal certification. He claimed that since those bags were found to be of inferior quality the temple had not used that supply at the temple.
