Kerala High Court tells Travancore Devaswom Board to write temple-custom conditions into prasadam e-tenders
1 October 2026
A Division Bench of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice K V Jayakumar closed a long-pending petition about jaggery used for prasadam at Sabarimala.
The case is S J R Kumar v The Travancore Devaswom Board and Ors, WP(C) 25645/2021, reported as 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 541.
The jaggery supplied in 2019 by Vardhan Agro Processing Limited carried a halal certification mark, JUH/HRC/437/2018, obtained for the company's exports to West Asia.
Analysis by the Food Safety Officer found the jaggery within acceptable limits for moisture and total sugar, with no substance unfit for preparing prasadam.
The court said the Board ought to have exercised greater care so that the jaggery supplied did not bear symbols, markings or declarations that could give rise to an apprehension of conflict with the religious customs and practices followed at the temple.
The Board was directed to include conditions in future e-tender documents ensuring that materials for nivedyam and prasadam meet both quality standards and temple custom.
In plain words
Nivedyam Nivedyam — Food offered to the deity in a temple, later distributed as prasadam.
Devaswom Bench Devaswom Bench of the Kerala High Court — A special bench of the Kerala High Court that hears matters about temples administered by the Devaswom Boards.