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Kerala High Court tells Travancore Devaswom Board to exercise care over Halal jaggery
The has disposed of a petition challenging the use of Halal-certified jaggery at the Sabarimala Temple, directing the to exercise greater care and caution in future procurement to ensure compliance with .
A Question of Ritual Purity
The petitioner, S.J.R. Kumar, a devotee and convenor of the , approached the court in after media reports alleged that the temple administration had procured Halal-certified jaggery for preparing prasadam — including aravana and unniyappam — offered to Lord Ayyappa. The petitioner argued that using jaggery certified under another faith's religious practices rendered the offerings impure and unsuitable as Satwik material, violating centuries-old Tantric rituals.
The Board's Defense
The Devaswom Board explained that it procures jaggery through an . In , the contract was awarded to , which supplied nearly 20 lakh kilograms of jaggery powder. The Board revealed that the Halal marking on some packets arose because the manufacturer also exports to Middle Eastern countries, where such certification is mandatory. The company claimed the certification was merely a quality assurance measure.
Subsequent testing by the at Pamba found the jaggery satisfactory. However, due to COVID-19 restrictions limiting the number of devotees, a large stock remained unused. In , further tests showed the old stock was no longer suitable for prasadam , and it was auctioned off with a clear notice that it was unfit for that purpose.
What the Lab Reports Said
The court examined quality analysis reports from the . The tests covered moisture content, total sugar, and invert sugar. "We find that the quality of the jaggery supplied was satisfactory and that the testing did not reveal the presence of any substance or element which would render it unsuitable for use in the preparation of prasadam ," the bench observed.
A Directed Caution
While acknowledging that the jaggery met food safety standards, the court noted that the Devaswom Board should have been more vigilant.
"Ideally, the
ought to have exercised greater care to ensure that the quantity of jaggery supplied by the manufacturer did not bear symbols, markings or declarations that could give rise to an apprehension of conflict with the
and practices followed at the Temple,"
the judgment stated.
The of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and K. V. Jayakumar disposed of the with a direction to the Board to "exercise due care and caution in future and to incorporate appropriate and necessary conditions in the so as to ensure that the materials procured for the preparation of nivedyam and prasadam are in conformity with the prescribed as well as the and requirements applicable to the Temple."
The Final Word
The court declined to order of the jaggery or initiate an inquiry into , finding no evidence of deliberate wrongdoing. Instead, it underscored the need for proactive measures to prevent any future perception of conflict between commercial procurement and sacred traditions.
