The daily rituals at the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala on April 10 has kicked up yet another controversy.
As per an earlier announcement, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) decision was to close the sanctum sanctorum after Athazhapuja on April 9 evening and open it again at 5 p.m. the next day for the Vishu festival-cum-monthly rituals, supposed to begin with Ganapathi homom in the morning on April 11.
It is alleged that keeping the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple open on April 10 forenoon and performing Udayasthamanapuja and other major rituals, pre-booked till 2038, was a violation of the custom and practice at Sabarimala.
The Devaswom Vigilance has started investigating the circumstances that led to the decision taken by the temple authorities to continue the rituals on April 10.
TDB clarifies
The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has clarified that the decision to continue the rituals on April 10, without giving a day’s gap after the closure of the temple on April 9, was taken after consulting Tantri Kandararu Rajeevararu, considered to be the final authority on the ritualistic matters at Sabarimala.
The Tantri was of the opinion that covering the presiding deity with holy ash (bhasmam) and keeping the temple closed hardly for 19 hours after Athazhapuja on April 9 was not advisable.
Charges baseless
Meanwhile, the Devaswom Vigilance has found that the allegation that a few women below the age of 50 years had worshipped at Sabarimala during the Vishu festival was baseless.
