High court seeks report on purchase of pooja materials at Sabarimala temple

Kochi: High court has sought a report from TDB regarding the purchase of pooja materials used for the ‘Nitya Nidhana Pooja' at Sabarimala temple, detailing whether the items were procured in accordance with the store purchase rules to ensure transparency, as well as the rules and guidelines currently in force to regulate the sale.The bench of Justices V Raja Vijayaraghavan and K V Jayakumar issued the order while considering a report submitted by the Sabarimala special commissioner regarding complaints about procuring pooja materials from the same individual for the past 16 years. The report stated that materials such as rice, malar (puffed rice), jaggery, banana, kottathenga (dried coconut), dried ginger, cumin seeds, cardamom, turmeric and pepper for the Nitya Nidana Pooja, as well as pattu, thorthu, and vella mundu (white dhoti) used at Ganapathy Pratishtha and Malikappuram, have been supplied by one Sunil Kumar alias Sunil Swamy for several years.The report further stated that the pooja materials are stored in a room under the custody of the administrative officer and that none of these materials is accounted for in the devaswom records, including the ‘Nadavaravu Register'. It also noted that no receipt has so far been issued to Sunil Kumar. According to the report, the quality, purity, and quantity of the materials supplied by him are not verified by any competent authority. The report also stated that Sunil Kumar incurs an expenditure of approximately Rs 3 lakh for Masapoojas and around Rs 18 lakh during the Mandala-Makaravilakku season. Similarly, a vigilance officer's report observed that the continued practice of receiving materials for the Nithya Pooja from a particular individual without any formal authority in a temple like Sabarimala could lead to corruption in various quarters.Observing that there was no justification for failing to record the details of the procurement of pooja items in the Nadavaravu Register, HC directed TDB to submit a report by May 28 regarding the procurement of pooja items for the Nitya Nidana Pooja at Sabarimala.