‘Temples rely on offerings from devotees; Devaswom Board has to maintain faith' 

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former Chief Secretary K Jayakumar said the lack of a good and flawless system is the reason for all the present problems in Sabarimala. The board has many structural problems and that the gold theft did not surprise him, he said in an interview given to a leading national media.

‘The present system in Sabarimala is very weak. There are many loopholes. It is a great relief that it is supervised by the court. The professionalism of the people running the board is also a big factor. If more technology is implemented, many problems can be reduced. Sponsorship is a good thing. However, there is no system in Sabarimala to deal with sponsors. That is why the mediators come. The present system in Sabarimala encourages the mediators. If an impartial and flawless system comes, Sabarimala can be taken forward without any problems.

The administration of the board should be more modernized. It is difficult to run Sabarimala like a government office because it is related to rituals. Should intervene with devotees, objectivity and transparency with the devotees. The administration of the board needs to be modernized. I hope that the present crisis will become an opportunity for modernization.

All the systems should be dismantled in a transparent manner. After one season, preparations for the next season should start. There should be full-time systems for this. Sabarimala should not be seen as one of the temples under the board. If seen in that way, the problems will never be over. One thing we should understand is that the board relies on the offerings of devotees. So, it is the duty of the board to maintain the faith of the devotees. Nothing should be adulterated. There should be a purity of faith in everything. They should ensure the sanctity and quality of the offerings,’ he clarified.