Sabarimala pilgrimage: TDB president meets Keralam Devaswom Minister, briefs him on preparations

Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president K. Jayakumar on Friday (September 25, 2026) met Devaswom Minister K Muraleedharan and briefed him on preparations for the upcoming Sabarimala pilgrimage season.

The meeting assumes significance as Mr. Muraleedharan had recently expressed displeasure over the shortage of aravana payasam at Sabarimala and the delays in the TDB tendering process for procuring raw materials ahead of the pilgrimage season.

Mr. Jayakumar had earlier attributed the aravana payasam shortage to an unexpected increase in the number of devotees and said the Board was taking steps to increase production capacity ahead of the pilgrimage season.

The TDB president had also met Chief Minister V D Satheesan recently and briefed him about the preparations at Sabarimala.

The upcoming Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season will commence on November 16.

Mr. Jayakumar met Mr. Muraleedharan at the latter’s office on Friday morning and the meeting lasted more than 15 minutes.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr. Muraleedharan said the government and the TDB would work together to ensure that devotees do not face difficulties during the pilgrimage season.

“The Board and the government are working together. He has given an assurance that this season’s pilgrimage will be made smoothly. Therefore, there is no scope for apprehension. We will move forward together,” the Minister said.

“The Chief Minister had spoken with him. With the Board and the government working together, things will go smoothly this time without any difficulty for the devotees,” he said.

Asked whether the recent developments had caused a rift between the government and the Board, Mr. Muraleedharan said apprehensions had naturally arisen as the government would have to answer if there were any hindrances during the pilgrimage.

“But the Board itself took the initiative in that matter to reach an understanding. Not only that, he has agreed to directly give a report on works carried out in Sabarimala every week,” he said.

The TDB has said preparations for the pilgrimage season will be completed by October 31, while steps are also being taken to increase the daily production capacity of aravana payasam and improve crowd management arrangements at Nilakkal.