THIRUVANANTHAPURAM The TDB on Monday said it will file an affidavit before the Supreme Court to maintain existing traditions when the court hears petitions related to entry of women of menstruating age into the hill shrine of Sabarimala temple.
Travancore Devaswom Chairman K Jayakumar said the issue of filing the affidavit was discussed in the board meeting held here and a decision was taken to maintain the existing practice.
The prevailing practice in Sabarimala restricts the entry of women of menstruating age into the Lord Ayyappa temple.
“The Board of Directors has no difference of opinion on this matter. The Trade and Development Board was formed under rules stipulating the protection of the temple and its traditions. Therefore, we will appeal the decision of the Supreme Court,” he said in a press interview, referring to the issue of women’s entry.
He said the Board’s position is that the existing tradition regarding women’s entry into Sabarimala should continue.
“This should be reported to the Supreme Court before March 14. We have decided to appoint relevant persons to inform the court, and a decision in this regard was taken during the board meeting,” he said.
He clarified that the TDB did not support the 2018 Supreme Court ruling allowing entry of women of menstruating age into the temple, but added that whether the ruling should be reviewed was not the prerogative of the TDB.
“The advice we received is to take the matter as a decision in the board meeting and file an affidavit in court,” he said, adding that Devaswom has only one stand – that tradition should be protected and followed.
Asked whether the CPI government was taking the same position, the TDB chief said the investigation should be directed at the government itself.
He said that the previous position of the Trade and Development Board was also the same and that the Board had not taken any other position on the matter.
“Whether there is a need to review the court’s decision or not is not within our jurisdiction. We can explain our position only when the review is considered,” he said.
When asked about the earlier stand that the TDB’s lawyer was said to have taken against reviewing the ruling in 2018, Jayakumar said that may have been the lawyer’s point of view, but the board’s policy remains to protect temple traditions.
In 2018, the Supreme Court allowed entry of women of menstruating age into the Sabarimala temple.
The review petitions are currently under consideration and the Supreme Court has asked the aggrieved parties, including the state government, to express its stand before March 14.
Jayakumar announced that the festival office will start operations in Pampa on April 14, Vishu Day, and board meetings will be held there.
He said the board has decided to prepare a detailed budget for Sabarimala covering revenue and expenditure to curb unnecessary expenditure, identify revenue leakage and ensure proper auditing.
He pointed out that a modern system will be launched for tenders for commercial spaces, with clear conditions regarding cleanliness, electrical safety, and employee health.
To improve sanitation, a scientific waste disposal system will be implemented and a detailed protocol will be prepared in consultation with experts, Jayakumar said.
Sponsorship guidelines will be reviewed, and sponsors will only be allowed to contribute in accordance with temple requirements.
“There should not be a practice of individuals approaching the board and offering different sponsorships. We will publish our requirements on the website if sponsorship is needed. We will only accept sponsorship on our terms. There will be no intermediaries,” he said.
The guidelines in this regard were formulated in the wake of the Sabarimala gold loss case, where the main accused, Unnikrishnan Bute, volunteered to replace the gold artefacts, a move that later became controversial.
Jayakumar said the availability of rooms at the hill shrine will be simplified for pilgrims.
He added: “We learned that some rooms are occupied by specific people, and we will restore and renovate all of these rooms to allocate them to pilgrims. A database will be prepared, and rooms will be allocated through the housekeeping agency.”
Advertisements during the Hajj season will be released in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam, and the kiosks will also support these languages.
To strengthen ties with religious people in other states, the TDB is considering launching a 24-page monthly magazine in Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, English and Tamil, Jayakumar said.
He added that the council has also decided to limit the number of daily wage workers during the Hajj season in Sabarimala and will not appoint them in sensitive areas.
This article was generated from an automated news feed without any modifications to the text.
