Thiruvananthapuram: Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president K Jayakumar on Thursday revised his earlier stand on the alleged disruption of the Thiruvonam feast at Sabarimala, acknowledging that some devotees were served pulav instead of the traditional sadya.Jayakumar had earlier contradicted devaswom minister K Muraleedharan’s statement that complaints had been received regarding disruption of the Onam feast at the hill shrine. He had suggested that the minister might have been misinformed and maintained that there had been no lapse in serving the feast.However, speaking to the media after the TDB meeting, Jayakumar said the minister’s statement was correct to the extent that a few devotees had been served pulav. But he clarified that devotees who asked for sadya were served it while those who preferred pulav were given pulav.Earlier in the day, Jayakumar had said there was no failure in providing the Thiruvonam feast at Sannidhanam. He said around 3,000 devotees had consumed the feast served at the mess and that all necessary arrangements had been made.He had also alleged that unnecessary doubts were being raised about the arrangements for the feast.Muraleedharan said on Wednesday that he received a complaint alleging disruption of the Thiruvonam feast at Sannidhanam. He subsequently directed the TDB to conduct an inquiry into the matter.The minister asked the board to examine whether a lack of coordination had occurred following changes to the existing arrangements and directed that strict action be taken if any lapses were found.Muraleedharan also called for clear procedures for annadanam and other food-related arrangements at Sabarimala.Jayakumar’s latest clarification comes amid the controversy over whether there was any disruption or administrative lapse in the arrangements for the Onam feast at Sabarimala.
