Work is on in full swing in the kitchen at 11 a.m. at the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple where ‘prasadham’ is prepared daily.
The increase in the number of visitors to the temple has resulted in a significant boost in the sale of ‘prasadham’ when compared to the previous years.
The ‘prasadham’ counters have been doing a brisk business with visitors, including foreign tourists, showing enthusiasm to try sweets and savouries prepared.
Sold at five different counters inside the temple, the sale recorded for November 2013 stood at nearly Rs.25 lakh, a definite increase when compared to November last when it stood at Rs.18 lakh.
December 2013 too recorded sales of Rs.40 lakh, at least Rs.18 lakh higher than the previous year for the same month. The division currently operates with a staff of 26 who handle the preparation and the sales at the counters.
Speaking about the preparation process, S. Kalimuthu, who is in charge of the ‘prasadham’ division, said that the quantity of prasadham to be prepared and raw materials to be procured would be determined by referring to the previous year’s monthly figures which gave them a rough idea of the sales to expect.
“On ‘Maattu Pongal’ day alone, we sold nearly 8,900 laddus. Apart from the Sabarimala and the holiday season during December, we anticipate steady sales during ‘Navarathri’ and the annual Chithirai festival as well as national holidays and festival days”, he explained.
The last three months have seen devotees and tourists thronging the temple. While tourists from both abroad and different parts of the country have been visiting the temple in large numbers, owing to the holiday season in December, the Sabarimala season has seen a large spurt in the number of devotees frequenting the temple.
“Serpentine queues of Sabarimala pilgrims can be seen outside the temple from as early as 5 a.m. Taking into consideration the holidays and the festivals through the last two months, on an average, 50,000 people visit the temple every day”, a temple official said.