Thiruvananthapuram: The gold crown kept at Sabarimala shrine has not gone missing and is safely stored in the strong room at Sannidhanam, the Thiruvabharanam commissioner has informed Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB). TDB president K Jayakumar said reports that the crown had gone missing were baseless.The crown was donated by Vaidyanatha Swami from Tamil Nadu in 2012, Jayakumar said. The devotee who donated it had also insured the crown. “The gold crown is safe in the strong room at Sabarimala,” Jayakumar said after the board meeting on Thursday.TDB held a meeting to review preparations for the upcoming mandala pilgrimage season, with discussions focusing on the shortage of aravana, crowd management at Sannidhanam and the auctioning of shops. Sabarimala temple will open for the mandala season on Nov 16. Jayakumar said the board has several works to complete before the opening and that all ongoing renovation works worth around Rs 6 crore would be completed by the end of Oct.An AI-enabled crowd management system will be deployed at Sannidhanam with police assistance. Nilackal will serve as the main hub, while the police will decide the locations where AI cameras will be installed. A facility to accommodate at least 6,000 people will also be arranged at Nilackal. A control room will coordinate the movement of pilgrims and vehicle parking. An external expert team has been appointed to assess the quality of the ongoing works, Jayakumar said.On the aravana shortage, he said the board currently produces around 2.6 lakh tins a day and plans to increase production by another one lakh tins, taking the daily capacity to 3.6 lakh tins. The new plant is scheduled to begin operations from Oct 31.“There will be sufficient aravana stock when Sabarimala temple opens. It has been planned to have a buffer stock of 75 lakh cans of aravanas before the temple opens for the festival season. There won’t be any shortage during the Thulam month pujas,” Jayakumar said.He also ruled out any shortage of jaggery, saying adequate stocks had already been procured. The board had invited tenders three times for procuring jaggery and was conducting a capability assessment to ensure that the supplier was a genuine and capable company. Jayakumar said the board would also undertake negotiations on prices as part of the procurement process.
