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Agitators protest liquor publicity at Sabarimala

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya's effort to get publicity for his company's brands after making an offering to the Ayyappan temple at Sabarimala, Kerala, has run into trouble with some groups threatening to launch an agitation against the bid.

Various organisations have already objected to the erection of hoardings in the hills that announce that the company had sponsored the gold covering of the temple's sanctum sanctorum. The Kerala Prohibition Council has threatened to remove the "illegal" hoardings.

They plan to start the exercise by mutilating the hoarding at Mannarakulanji, from where the trek to the hill begins, said council general secretary Jayaprakash Narayan. Prohibition activists from Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta are also to take part in the agitation.

Jayaprakash said his organisation would damage all hoardings erected by Mallya's Bangalore-based United Breweries on the route to Sabarimala as they are not only illegal, but also sacrilegious.

He said though the Kerala high court had permitted Mallya to put up only one hoarding, they have erected many, at all the vantage points, to catch the attention of millions of pilgrims. In fact, he has questioned the need for even one, since Vijay Mallya provided the gold covering as a devotee's offering.

"His strategy is to misuse this opportunity to gain publicity for the products of his company," said Jayaprakash, warning that the Prohibition Council would not allow it.

Kerala Women's Commission chairperson and prohibition activist Sugathakumari has also called for an agitation against the gold covering of the temple by a liquor baron. Taking part at a seminar in Thiruvanthapuram recently, Sugathakumari criticised the Travancore Devaswom Board, which administers the temple, for accepting an offering from a liquor baron.

She said it was not proper to mix religion with liquor, particularly at a place like Sabarimala, where pilgrims go after avoiding alcohol for 41 days.

Many had also questioned the need for getting donations to fund the work since the temple earns billions of rupees every year. Mallya had spent Rs 180 million to cover the sanctum sanctorum with gold, ostensibly to gain some publicity from the investment.

The high court permitted the UB group to donate 32 kg of gold and 1,900 kg of copper for the gold covering on the condition that Mallya's name would be displayed only at one place of the valley. However, those against the plan say he has put up hoardings along the route to the temple, in gross violation of the high court order.

The Travancore Dewaswom Board claims the UB chief is an ardent devotee of Ayyappan, the principal deity, and had even organised a Mahakumbhabhishekham ritual to celebrate the event, which coincided with the Mandala pooja and the Makaravilakku festival, which attracts millions of devotees from all over the country.

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