Kartik Pournima, Kaliyug Varsha 5114
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Court seeks clean prasadam?making practices at Sabarimala
November 28, 2012
Kochi (Kerala) : The Kerala High Court Tuesday asked those responsible in preparing the famed temple prasadam at Sabarimala to see that it is done in a clean and proper manner with utmost importance given to hygeine.
The division bench’s observation came after a laboratory test found out that the offering from the temple ("appam") had fungus in it.
Most Sabarimala pilgrims, after paying obeisance to the presiding deity, make sure they return with the temple prasadam which consists of the appam and "aravana" (a variety of payasam).
Following media reports of the contaminated appam, the temple authorities last week destroyed huge quantities of it.
The bench while complimenting the authorities for destroying the contaminated appam, however, asked the temple authorities, the Travancore Devasom Board (TDB), to daily monitor the preparation of the food items and also check the automated packing machine of the aravana plant.
When the media reported about the spoilt appam being supplied, the TDB authorities contested the claims. The court while lauding the media dismissed the TDB’s prayer to rein in the media for spreading "baseless news".
The TDB was reconstituted recently by the Oommen Chandy government and till then K.Jayakumar, who recently retired as the state chief secretary, was its chief commissioner.
After the new board took over, Jayakumar relinquished his post, but the court Tuesday asked him to continue till the present season is over.
Meanwhile, state Devasom Minister V.S.Sivakumar told reporters in the capital city that an inquiry would be conducted to find out how the fungus infected appam was distributed and strict action would be taken against those responsible for it.
This temple is the major source of revenue for the TDB and the aggregate revenue earned at Sabarimala in the 2011?2012 pilgrimage season was Rs.174.20 crore, up from Rs.153 crore during the 2010?11 season.
The new pilgrimage season began Nov 15 and has been witnessing various glitches. The season ends on Jan 14.
Situated in the Western Ghats ranges at an altitude of 914 metres above sea level, the Sabarimala temple is four km uphill from Pamba in Pathanamthitta district.
It is one of the most famous Hindu pilgrim centres in India.
The temple, which bars the entry of women who have attained puberty, is accessible only on foot from Pamba.
Source : News Track India
Fungus in Appam : Bid to desecrate Sabarimala suspected
November 27, 2012
Hindu outfits are up in arms against the alleged propaganda to tarnish the piety of the Lord Ayyappa temple of Sabarimala in Kerala, as seen in the media reports on the discovery last week of fungus infection in some Appams (sweetmeat), the Prasada distributed to devotees from the shrine.
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Sasikala Teacher, State president of the Hindu Aikya Vedi, demanded registration of criminal case against those responsible for the Appams getting infected by fungus. “This too could be part of a conspiracy being hatched against Sabarimala for the past several years. The Hindus cannot feign ignorance of this anymore,” she said.
Fungus infection was found in the Appams bought by certain pilgrims from the temple’s sales counters last week. In the examination held following this, several such infected Appams were found in the stocks room. After this, the authorities destroyed over 700,000 Appams — costing `25 lakh — prepared in a particular period by burning them in incinerator.
Some samples of the Appams were sent for analysis at the microbiology laboratory of the Council for Food Research and Development (CFRD) at Konni, Pathanamthitta. The CFRD analysts reported that the yeast and mould count found in the Appam samples was very high and “hence cannot be recommended for human consumption”.
They also said that this could be due to lack of good hygiene practice during preparation. However, reports came out saying that the analysis at the CFRD had found that the fungus found in the Appams was so toxic that it could cause liver ailments if consumed when, according to the authorities, there was no word on the fungus’s toxicity in the council’s report.
The Travancore Devaswom Board, the temple’s administration body, the Joint Food Safety Commissioner and the Special Commissioner appointed by the High Court for Sabarimala had explained that the CFRD report had not made any reference to the aspect of toxicity of the fungus in the Appams. In fact, the council lab had not gone into this aspect at all, sources said.
“It seems that there is no basis for these reports. It is for the Devaswom Board and the Government to find out how such a dangerous campaign had originated and was carried on by a large section of the media against the Sabarimala temple in the name of the Appams,” said a Hindu Aikya Vedi office-bearer.
Devotees are of the opinion that the Devaswom Board is primarily responsible for incidents like contamination of Prasadas given to the pilgrims from the shrine as it is the agency which arranges for their preparation. It is the board’s duty to ensure faultless practices for making Appams and Aravana (the other Prasada of the temple).
The Devaswom Board was directly in charge of making Appams till last pilgrimage season but it outsourced the process to three contractors this season. “It now seems that the board had not gone in detail to the credentials of these contractors before hiring their services. Otherwise, this situation would not have arisen,” said the Health official.
Source : Daily Pioneer
