The Kerala High Court has sought a report following a petition alleging spoiled “halal-certified” jaggery was being used in the preparation of Naivedyam and Prasadam at the Sabarimala temple.
The Division Bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and PG Ajith Kumar have 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 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 authority has been using halal-certified jaggery against the tradition of the temple.
The petitioner is a general convener of Sabarimala Karma Samithi who filed the petition against the Travancore Devaswom Board that manages this famous shrine located at Sabarimala hill inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Perinad Village.
Sabarimala Karma Samithi is among some of the organizations in Kerala which fight to preserve the established traditions and customs of temples. Petitioner said that the temple has an age-old tradition of using satwik (pure) materials to prepare Naivedyam and Prasadam which is a matter of faith that must be maintained at any cost.
S J R Kumar who is also a VHP leader pointed that halal-certified jaggery is prepared as per the religious practices of Islam, hence using the same for offering to the deity was against 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 material for the preparation of Naivedyam/Prasada in a Hindu temple having its own 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.
