Sabrimala officials erred in conducting rituals, says probe report

Special pujas were conducted on April 10 in violation of precedence and pratice

The Devaswom Vigilance has submitted a report on the alleged violation of custom and rituals by the authorities at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple on April 10.

In his report submitted to Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran on Tuesday, Vigilance Sub-Inspector R. Sreejith has stated that he has found violation of certain precedence and practice on the part of the temple authorities by permitting special rituals at the temple on April 10.

Original schedule

As per the original schedule announced in the calendar and diary of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), the temple should have been closed after the Painguni Uthram festival in the evening on April 9 and reopened on April 10 afternoon for the Vishu festival.

Instead, the temple authorities decided to keep the temple open for daily rituals on April 10 too, thereby facilitating certain devotees to offer special rituals such as Udayasthamanapuja, Padipuja, etc, at the temple the same day, the report said. It may be recalled that advance booking for these special rituals has been done till 2038.

The inquiry officer also found that the Idakka recital at the temple sopanam by an actor too was inappropriate.

However, the report also said that all women who had offered prayers at the temple were above the age of 50 and the allegation of that certain women were below the permissible age was baseless.

TDB chief’s clarification

TDB chief Prayar Gopalakrishnan has clarified that the temple authorities had decided to perform daily rituals at the temple on April 10 after obtaining permission from Tantri Kandararu Rajevararu.

Copies of the inquiry report report will be submitted to M. Manoj, Special Commissioner appointed by the Kerala High Court; Mr. Gopalakrishnan; and C.P. Ramaraja Prema Prasad, Devaswom Commissioner.