Sabarimala pilgrimage: TDB president meets Keralam Devaswom Minister, briefs him on preparations

Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president K. Jayakumar on Friday (September 25, 2026) met Devaswom Minister K Muraleedharan and briefed him on preparations for the upcoming Sabarimala pilgrimage season.

The meeting assumes significance as Mr. Muraleedharan had recently expressed displeasure over the shortage of aravana payasam at Sabarimala and the delays in the TDB tendering process for procuring raw materials ahead of the pilgrimage season.

Mr. Jayakumar had earlier attributed the aravana payasam shortage to an unexpected increase in the number of devotees and said the Board was taking steps to increase production capacity ahead of the pilgrimage season.

The TDB president had also met Chief Minister V D Satheesan recently and briefed him about the preparations at Sabarimala.

The upcoming Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season will commence on November 16.

Mr. Jayakumar met Mr. Muraleedharan at the latter’s office on Friday morning and the meeting lasted more than 15 minutes.