‘Halal’ jaggery row: Ensure worship materials for Sabarimala conform to religious customs, says HC

Aravana (a traditional sweet made from red rice, jaggery and ghee) and unniyappam (made from rice, jaggery and other ingredients and fried) are the main offerings to the Sabarimala deity Lord Ayyappa.

The petitioner contended that the use of jaggery bearing a halal certification, which signifies that the product has been prepared in accordance with the religious beliefs and practices of another community, at the hill shrine would amount to sacrilege and that these offerings made with them will be unsuitable as Satwik, or pure material, for being offered to the deity.

The HC then sought reports from the Devaswom Board.

The bench which perused the Board’s statement said, “We find that the procedure adopted by the Devaswom Board for procuring such a large quantity of jaggery is through an e-tender process. Pursuant to the said process, (Maharashtra-based) Vardhan Agro Processing Limited emerged as the L1 bidder and was required to supply 19,96,034 kilograms of jaggery powder.”

The HC added, “From the statement filed before us, it is evident that the said company also exports jaggery to certain Middle Eastern countries and that it was for the purpose of such exports that the packaging bore the halal certification.”

It said, “Ideally, the Travancore Devaswom Board 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 religious customs and practices followed at the Temple. However, having regard to the analysis reports (of the Food Safety Laboratory) placed before us, 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 judgement said, “…We are of the view that the Writ Petition can be disposed of by directing the Travancore Devaswom Board to exercise due care and caution in future and to incorporate appropriate and necessary conditions in the e-tender documents so as to ensure that the materials procured for the preparation of nivedyam and prasadam are in conformity with the prescribed quality standards as well as the religious customs and requirements applicable to the Temple.”