A favourite of the crowds that thronged the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple during the Chithirai festival in April was the prasadham, sweets and savouries sold on the temple premises.
An official with the prasadham division at the temple said that sales worth Rs. 29.81 lakh was achieved in April. “This is significantly more than the February and March sales which stood at Rs. 20.35 lakh and Rs. 21.62 lakh respectively,” he said.
The prasadham included laddoo, sweet pongal, thenkuzhal, puttu, tamarind rice, appam and vadai. While they are generally sold at the four stalls on the temple premises, two additional stalls were set up during the festival.
The temple authorities said that on the day of Meenakshi Sundareswarar ‘Thirukalyanam’ on April 30 alone, sweets and savouries worth Rs. 2.48 lakh were sold. “Laddoos are most popular among the devotees and we sold 89,722 pieces of the sweet in April. Tamarind rice, a speciality here, recorded a sale of 58,010 packets,” an official said.
The demand for prasadham is high during the Chithirai festival, Navarathiri and the ‘Ayyappa season’ when devotees visiting Sabarimala pay a visit to the temple. The prasadhams, prepared at the temple kitchen, are also sent to the sub-temples of the temple, which include the Tirumarainathar Temple at Tiruvadavur, Mukteeswarar Temple and Mariamman Temple near Teppakulam.
