Travancore Devaswom Board ‘Owns’ Sabarimala, Says Communist CM Pinarayi Vijayan After Returning From UAE Trip

Back from his UAE trip, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in a press meet has said that the Sabarimala temple belongs to the Travancore Devaswom Board and nobody else can claim authority over the temple, reports Mathrubhumi.

The Pandalam royal family is no party to the tripartite covenant that transferred the power of administration of the temple and the management of assets from the Kings of Travancore and Cochin to Travancore and Cochin Devaswom boards.

In a press meet today (23 October) the communist Chief Minister slammed the chief priests, the Thantri family and junior priests for objecting the Supreme Court ruling and staging protests.

However, he reiterated his position that the government would take all measures to ensure that the Supreme Court verdict would be implemented. He accused the Sangh Parivar of not allowing women who reached Sabarimala to enter the temple and held them responsible for the chaos at the temple premises.

Justifying the police action, he said police had to ensure the safety of devotees.” The Government has spent Rs 302.18 crore solely for devotees in the past two years”, he said.

The state is duty bound to ensure the secular traditions of the state. “It is difficult to discern a devotee and a non-devotee based on his/her looks or the costumes”, Mathrubhumi quoted the Chief Minister saying.

Vijayan recently returned back to India from a five-day trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which was aimed at collecting funds for the state’s post-flood rebuilding.