Palpayasam price hike irks devotees

ALAPPUZHA: Resentment is brewing among devotees of centuries-old Ambalappuzha Sri Krishna Temple over the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) hiking the price of Palpayasam from Rs  100 to Rs  160 a litre disregarding the Kerala High Court's views against its commercialisation. In November 2011, many Hindu groups protested when the TDB increased the price of the milk pudding to 100 from 60 a litre but in vain. Temple administrative officer (AO) J. Murugesan said the HC was monitoring the pricing after the TDB's attempts to commercialise it since 2007.

"Other offerings also cost more now," he said. The TDB was suffering losses from distributing the Prasadam at ' 100 a litre. Though others also offer their Payasam as Naivedyam, they are not popular like this. The TDB has also increased the daily output from 110 litres to 150 litres on special days like Thursdays and Sundays. The new pricing came into effect on Saturday. Temple advisory board president B. Sreekumar said the hike was "unbearable and injustice to the poor devotees." "We just came to know about it this morning," he said. "It should not be weighed by profit and loss accounts. It should be affordable to all." Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), which demanded an immediate rollback, is planning a sit-in before the TDB.

The legend goes that local king Chempakassery who borrowed a large quantity of rice from a Brahmin ended up a pauper. One day, the Brahmin sought his loan repaid or get barred from worshiping. The battered king asked his minister to find a solution. He collected rice from citizens and filled the entire central hall of the temple. He then ordered the Brahmin to remove them before the noon worship. Nobody in the kingdom dared to help him out, and he offered them to the deity to feed visiting pilgrims with Palpayasam.