SABARIMALA BOARD LAUNCHES AD BLITZ
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Fewer devotees visited the Sabarimala shrine in the first two-weeks of the annual pilgrimage season that began in mid November, and even those who came, donated less in the donation box and bought less Aravana Payasam prasadam (the offering at the temple) — a sort of innovative commercial protest by the faithful against what they see as the shrine management’s complicity in destroying the temple’s tradition. Once flush with money, the temple has started feeling the pinch. Visitors are down 60% and revenue 70%, according to Travancore Devasom Board, which runs the temple. Alarmed, the temple management is launching an advertising campaign saying the shrine is safe to visit.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Fewer devotees visited the Sabarimala shrine in the first two-weeks of the annual pilgrimage season that began in mid November, and even those who came, donated less in the donation box and bought less Aravana Payasam prasadam (the offering at the temple, much like Tirumala’s famed ladoos) — a sort of innovative commercial protest by the faithful against what they see as the shrine management’s complicity in destroying the temple’s tradition.
Their protest is against the Supreme Court order of Sept 28, allowing women of all ages entry into the shrine, and the local government and the temple board’s willingness to implement that order.
Thus, M Muthuswamy, a businessman from Tamil Nadu’s Dharmapuri, and a Sabarimala veteran of 20 years, bought just one can of the Payasam, as against the 40 he used to buy for friends and relatives back home. He says he was convinced to do so by protesters he met on the way to the temple who told him that the money would effectively go towards destroying his “favourite deity”.
Many protesters and protest groups have been advising pilgrims not to buy Payasam or
ONCE FLUSH WITH MONEY, THE TEMPLE HAS STARTED FEELING THE PINCH. VISITORS ARE DOWN 60% AND REVENUE, 70%, SAID THE BOARD OFFICIALS
donate to the temple.
Once flush with money, the temple has started feeling the pinch. Visitors are down 60% and revenue 70%, according to Travancore Devasom Board, which runs the temple. Alarmed, the temple management is launching an advertising campaign saying the shrine is safe to visit.
Indeed, when the temple management recently opened the donation boxes, it got a shock — more than money, it found slips of paper with “Save Sabarimala” written on them.
Local members of the BJP themselves are among those have been asking pilgrims not to donate anything.
“True, we advise pilgrims not to do this. Why you need their money if pilgrims are treated like criminals? The money is going to the government which is committed to destroying the temple,” said BJP general secretary Shobha Surendran.
The Travancore Dewasom Board, an autonomous body, has now approached some advertisement agencies to run the ad campaign in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh from where most of the pilgrims come.
“We use the money from Sabarimala to fund other temples and employees of the Devasom Board. If the situation continues like this even their salaries will be affected. I want to tell protesters that these poor people are also Hindus,” said TDB president A Padmakumar.
The number of visitors has been hit by the presence of a large number of protesters there to ensure no women between the ages of 10 and 50 reach the shrine, a huge police force to keep the pace, and activists out to make a point.
At the peak of the protests, the shrine looked besieged (and it was), not the best way to tell people all is well.
Then there is the Payasam. ‘Aravana Payasam (a black kheer made of rice, jaggery, ghee and cardamom) accounts for 60% of the revenue (the 2016-17 season revenue was₹300 crore) of the temple.
Usually, the temple produces 48,000 cans a day and keeps enough buffer stock. With falling footfalls, and diminishing demand, the temple has cut down its production to 10,000 cans a day, another official of the TDB said on the condition of anonymity.