‘Miscalculation and unexpected rush led to Aravana shortage’

NEW DELHI: Travancore Devaswom Board President K Jayakumar said that there does not appear to be any major crisis in the distribution of Aravana in Sabarimala. More devotees than usual had arrived at Sabarimala for the monthly pooja this time, and a miscalculation regarding the expected number of devotees led to the shortage, said K Jayakumar while talking to a Malayalam media in Delhi.

‘When Sabarimala opens for the five-day monthly pooja, around two to two-and-a-half lakh tins of Aravana are usually required. We shut down the plant for maintenance after producing 325,000 tins of Aravana. We did so because the maintenance work was expected to take one to one-and-a-half months. We are increasing the plant’s capacity to prevent an Aravana shortage during the season. We are trying to increase the plant’s production capacity by another one lakh tins per day.

The construction work will be completed by October 10. The unexpected increase in the number of devotees, which went beyond our estimates, caused difficulties in distribution. Had the plant been operational, we could have produced and supplied more Aravana.

Normally, the revenue during the monthly pooja is around Rs 5 crore, but this time it reached Rs 7.5 crore. With the plant maintenance work underway, there was a heavy rush for two consecutive days. Those who asked for 10 tins of Aravana were given five tins each, and the available stock was distributed accordingly. The present situation is like being on a battlefield. People with vested interests may not want things to go smoothly. They are trying to fish in troubled waters,’ said Jayakumar.