Pampa is gateway to Sabarimala and ideal for Ayyappa meet, TDB informs HC

The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) informed the Kerala High Court on Monday that Pampa was the gateway to Sabarimala and, hence, a suitable venue to conduct the Global Ayyappa Sangamam.

The court had asked why the TDB wanted to host the event at Pampa. The TDB alone is not in a position to conduct the Sabarimala pilgrimage, which is carried out with the support of all government departments. The same applies to the conduct of the Ayyappa Sangamam, the TDB’s counsel said.

He added that only 60 of the 1,250 temples managed by the TDB were self-sufficient. The rest were managed using funds generated from Sabarimala.

The TDB informed the court that the proposed Global Ayyappa Sangamam aimed to propagate the principle of “Thatwamasi” worldwide and elevate the Sabarimala temple as a global pilgrimage centre. Its objective was also to mobilise support for the development of Sabarimala and implement the Sabarimala Master Plan.

The court directed the TDB and the State government to file a counter affidavit detailing the fund-raising process, objectives of the programme, and the scale of the Ayyappa Sangamam.

The TDB’s submission was in response to a petition filed by M. Nandakumar, organising secretary of the Haindaveeyam Foundation, Kalamassery, who challenged the conduct of the Ayyappa Sangamam.

He had contended that the event was beyond the secular duties of the government and the provisions of the Travancore Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act. The government said the petitioner was unnecessarily politicising the matter and that the petition was not maintainable.

The court had earlier this month, while hearing a public interest litigation, orally directed the TDB and the other stakeholders to specify the nature of the event and ensure that “sponsorships” for it ought to be from verifiable and credible sources.