Adequate Aravana stock will be ensured in Sabarimala: TDB chief

You don’t have any Active Subscription.

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

The Travancore Devaswom Board plans to maintain a buffer stock of eight lakh tins for the Thulam month puja and 75 lakh tins by November 16, 2026, says board president. 

The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has said that there will be no shortage of Aravana prasadam during the Thulam month puja at Sabarimala and that adequate buffer stocks will be maintained ahead of the annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season.

Addressing a press meet in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday (September 24, 2026), TDB president K. Jayakumar said the expansion of the Aravana plant was in the final stage and ruled out shortages in the future.

The expansion would increase the plant’s daily production capacity from 2.6 lakh tins to 3.6 lakh tins. The new facility was expected to become operational by October 31, 2026. The board planned to maintain a buffer stock of eight lakh tins for the Thulam month puja and 75 lakh tins by November 16, 2026, when the temple opened for the annual pilgrimage. The plant was being modernised in accordance with food safety standards, with two new cooling chambers and two boilers being installed to prevent issues such as tin bursting and fungal growth.

Dismissing reports that the Sabarimala gold crown had gone missing, Mr. Jayakumar said the 55-sovereign crown, donated by a devotee in 2012, was safely stored in the Sannidhanam strong room. The Thiruvabharanam Commissioner had personally verified its presence, he said. He also clarified that the confusion arose after a similar item was moved to the strong room at Aranmula.

Mr. Jayakumar said the board had invited tenders three times to procure jaggery for Aravana production as part of efforts to ensure transparency in raw material procurement. A sample supplied by a Pune-based company had passed inspection, and the Devaswom Vigilance Superintendent of Police (SP) would visit the company to assess its capabilities. The board would purchase 50 lakh kg of jaggery from the company, while the remaining 25 lakh kg would be procured through the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal. This would be the first time the board was procuring jaggery through GeM, he said.

Contracts for key other raw materials would be signed by October 5, 2026 and all remaining supply contracts would be finalised by October 15, 2026. No new contracts would be awarded after the deadline.

A ‘tender-cum-e-auction’ system would also be introduced for allocating shops at Sabarimala to curb irregularities in the auction process. Contracts would be awarded for 11 months this time, the authorities said.

Responding to Devaswom Minister K. Muraleedharan’s allegation that the board had delayed preparations, Mr. Jayakumar said efforts would be made to bridge the communication gap between the government and the board. Progress reports on Sabarimala preparations would be submitted to the government every week. During the pilgrimage season, the reports would be submitted every three days, he said.

AI-enabled cameras would be deployed to manage crowd this year. The police would make the necessary arrangements using ₹5 crore from their own funds, with an AI-based control room proposed at Nilakkal. All ongoing civil works at Sabarimala would be completed by October 31, 2026, Mr. Jayakumar said.

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.