The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) will replace the holy temple mast on the Ayyappa temple premises with a gold-plated one, board member Subhash Vasu has said.
Mr. Vasu told The Hindu here on Friday that the decision was made on the basis of recommendations of a team of Vasthu experts led by Kanipayur Krishnan Namboodiripad.
An astrological consultation held at Sabarimala had found the temple mast decayed.
It required not less than 130 kg of gold.
The mast would be built in strict adherence to the principles of Kerala temple architecture, Mr. Vasu said. The TDB had got sufficient stock of gold. It would also accept gold as offerings from devotees for the proposed work, he said.
Teakwood as offering
Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sanghom (ABASS) national vice president D. Vijayakumar told The Hindu that the Sanghom would provide the teak wood required for the new mast as an offering to the presiding deity.
The expert panel had stated that the flyover on the temple premises should be dismantled as it was against the principles of temple architecture.
The panel had suggested the construction of a walkway at the ground level, Mr. Vasu said.
The temple premises would be expanded by about 30 metres on the north, south, and the west after demolishing the buildings which housed the TDB executive office and the rooms of the Tantri and the Melsanthi. The work would begin immediately after the culmination of the ongoing pilgrim season, Mr. Vasu said.
New construction
The board would construct a new two-storey Valiyanadappanthal at the Sannidhanam on a priority basis as prescribed by Sabarimala Master Plan consultants.
The idea was to complete the work by the next Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrim season, he said.
