Neyyappam which is the most sacred prasadam offered at the ancient hill shrine at Sabarimala is again the the news for wrong reasons! This fried product made from rice flour, coconut and jaggery is a traditional component of feasts and other festival celebrations in practically every home in Kerala and is made by shallow frying the semi pasty batter in ghee in special cast iron moulds, called "Appa Kara" and depending on the temperature and time, the product can be soft or hard to chew. The Sabarimala appam is supposed to be fried to a low moisture content with a view to confer long shelf life so that pilgrims can take home the same for sharing with their families and friend. Unfortunately there is neither science nor technology involved in this preparation as it is a traditional product evolved over centuries requiring inherited or acquired skills. Food scientists seem to be least concerned to study this product from a scientific angle and preparing this product on a large scale calls for battery operations requiring artisans in huge numbers. According to recent reports, an acute scarcity of workers in this labor starved state is hampering the authorities to increase production to meet the unsatisfied demands of pilgrims who visit this shrine in droves from all over the country. Here is a take on this situation as being reported by the Travancore Devaswam Board (TDB) authorities.
'A shortage of hands is affecting the production and distribution of 'appam prasadam', at the Lord Ayyappa temple. The situation, which has been continuing for the past two weeks, is yet to be solved. The restriction on the sale of 'appam prasadam' to two packets per pilgrim, continued until Monday. The shortage of workers has affected 26 of the total 96 appam 'karas'. Though the production and packing of appam were given on contract, the contractor has failed to employ adequate number of workers, sources said. Contractors are offering only a meagre `200 per day for a worker. This is affecting the possibility of finding sufficient number of workers. The passive attitude of the Devaswom authorities towards the problem, has left the problem unresolved".
This sorry state of affairs is a bad reflection on the callous attitude of the state government while the food research organizations in the public sector also have to bear equal responsibility for neglecting such traditional products for a long time in their pursuit of "glamorous" research! Unlike many other temples, bringing about beneficial transformation in Sabarimala is much easier as there is no cast or communal clash when modernization is taken up. Can the Government of Kerala take adequate courage in its hand to appeal to the Government of India to direct an institution like CFTRI or DFRL or others with adequate facilities and expertise to take up immediately a project that will come up with a standardized process and a mechanized manufacturing system for manufacturing clean, hygienic, safe and high quality appam at Sabarimala. After all there is no dearth of money with TDB and it is time it spends the same for the welfare of millions of devotees coming to the shrine every year.
'A shortage of hands is affecting the production and distribution of 'appam prasadam', at the Lord Ayyappa temple. The situation, which has been continuing for the past two weeks, is yet to be solved. The restriction on the sale of 'appam prasadam' to two packets per pilgrim, continued until Monday. The shortage of workers has affected 26 of the total 96 appam 'karas'. Though the production and packing of appam were given on contract, the contractor has failed to employ adequate number of workers, sources said. Contractors are offering only a meagre `200 per day for a worker. This is affecting the possibility of finding sufficient number of workers. The passive attitude of the Devaswom authorities towards the problem, has left the problem unresolved".
This sorry state of affairs is a bad reflection on the callous attitude of the state government while the food research organizations in the public sector also have to bear equal responsibility for neglecting such traditional products for a long time in their pursuit of "glamorous" research! Unlike many other temples, bringing about beneficial transformation in Sabarimala is much easier as there is no cast or communal clash when modernization is taken up. Can the Government of Kerala take adequate courage in its hand to appeal to the Government of India to direct an institution like CFTRI or DFRL or others with adequate facilities and expertise to take up immediately a project that will come up with a standardized process and a mechanized manufacturing system for manufacturing clean, hygienic, safe and high quality appam at Sabarimala. After all there is no dearth of money with TDB and it is time it spends the same for the welfare of millions of devotees coming to the shrine every year.
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