Prasadam on sale! Historic Kerala temple sparks row

New Delhi: The famous Sree Krishna temple at Amablapuzha near Thiruvananthapuram has sparked off a row after it put prasadam on sale through a retail outlet of the state-sponsored Consumerfed.

Two weeks back, Consumerfed had started selling the prasadam through its newly-opened Triveni Megamart near the centuries-old temple.

The temple is famous for its ‘payasam’, which is made of rice, milk and sugar. In fact, the payasam of the temple has been synonymous with the best of Kerala’s delicacies.

Its preparation, handed down to traditional cooks through generations, is held a closely guarded secret. But devotees believe that it acquires a distinct taste because it is cooked in the temple kitchen.

"It was with good intentions that we started supplying the prasadam through our shop. Our intention was to make available the payasam, which has a distinct cultural and heritage value, to more people," Raji G Nair, Managing Director of Consumerfed, says. But sections of devotees and the local people were outraged by the practice and they protested the move

to treat the ‘prasadam’ just like any other consumer good. Even some members of the temple advisory committee questioned the propriety of selling the ‘prasadam’.

The protest prompted the temple authorities to take urgent damage-control steps. Taking note of the public sentiment, Consumerfed stopped the sale of the ‘payasam’ after four days.

"So far, we had only sold about one to two litres of payasam bought from the temple for the last four days," a Consumerfed official said.

Nair said he had ordered the shop to stop the sale as soon as the temple advisory committee members voiced their protest.

Source: CNN-IBN

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