Devaprasnam: Munchira Madom raises objection

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Munchira Madom, which is in charge of the ‘pushpanjali’ ritual at Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple, has come out in protest in the ‘Devaprasnam’ episode. The Madom has alleged that the temple authorities had not sought the consent of the Pushpanjali Swamiyar, who is the head of the Munchira Madom, before the start of the ‘Devaprasnam’.This is complete disrespect to the customs being followed by the temple for years, Munchira Madom manager advocate Kanyakulangara R Subrahmanian has said in a statement here.The Pushpanjali Swamiyar is the descendent of the family of Vilwamangalam Swamiyar and holds the position of  administrative head in matters of spiritual concerns in the temple, the press statement says. However, the Swamiyar was not informed about the Devaprasnam, nor was he consulted.The Munchira Madom and the Naduvil Madom have been neglected for too long by the temple authorities, due to which there have been circumstances when the ‘pushpanjali’ ritual was affected. The assets and buildings of both the madoms have been encroached upon by private parties and the temple has been turning a blind eye towards it, the statement said. There has been no move to evict the encroachments so far, it said.The statement said that there should be an effort from the part of the temple authorities and the State Government to identify the encroachment that has taken place in Mitranandapuram buildings. The authorities must take action in the matter, Subrahmaniam said.Meanwhile, the Hindu Aikyavedi has come out demanding the abandoning of the inventory preparation and assessment of its value by the expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court. A statement from the Hindu Aikyavedi said that the Devaprasnam has revealed that the Lord is not happy with the opening of the vaults and the assessment.The way the assessment is being done, it could be termed ‘nidhiprapeedanam’ (disturbing the sanctity of the treasure of the Lord). The undeserving sight (‘darshan’), touch (‘sparsham’), knocking of the treasure (‘losanam’), picking it up (‘haranam’) could all be seen under this ‘nidhiprapeedanam’.Since the vault B, which is yet to be opened, is known to nurture strong link with the Lord’s aura, it should not be opened, the Aikyavedi said in the statement. The Devaprasnam had revealed that the Lord was against the opening of vault B. The apex court must be updated about the situation and the Devaprasnam and a favourable stand taken in the issue, it said.