The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has done away with the system of granting special darshan for those offering donations for Annadanam (distribution of food to pilgrims) at Sabarimala, TDB president A. Padmakumar has said.
Mr. Padmakumar told reporters here on Wednesday that the system introduced by the previous board had been dropped, to ensure equal opportunities for all pilgrims. The financial position of the board was stable. Sabarimala collection had gone up by ₹7 crore, compared to the previous year this time. The campaign by a section against offering money at Sabarimala had not made any impact. Board members, staff and employees of other departments would clean Sabarimala on November 24.
The Devaswom Vigilance would be strengthened and a new Vigilance wing would be constituted under the president to monitor temple administration. Employees facing corruption charges and Vigilance inquiry would not be included in the personal staff of the president and board members.
The board had 63 acres of land at Sabarimala, but now it has only 55 acres. This calls for a joint survey with the Forest Department, which, Mr. Padmakumar alleged, was adopting a hostile attitude to Sabarimala development. The board would take steps to recover its alienated land.
Regarding the entry of women to the temple, Mr. Padmakumar said that the board would declare its stance after hearing the judiciary’s view, government stance and public opinion. The current practices would continue till then. K.J. Yesudas would render a corrected version of ‘Harivarasanam’ and it would be recorded in Ernakulam on December 3, he said.
Board members K.P. Sankaradas and K. Raghavan were also present.
