Sabarimala: Travancore Devaswom Board president K Jayakumar announced that the annadanam (free meal) at the Sannidhanam will resume from Tuesday with Sadya being served in steel plates. The same will not be served on leaves, and drinking water will be provided in steel glasses, he added.

Implementing this comes with certain practical challenges, which will be addressed, Jayakumar further said. He said that the matter will be discussed again at the board meeting on Saturday. While serving sadya on leaves was considered, it is not practical. Disposing of used leaves is difficult, and using an incinerator is also not feasible. Hence, utensils with compartments have been chosen.

Arrangements are underway to ensure the availability of all necessary items. Adequate staff with experience will be required for sadya preparation and serving.

The sadya will include seven items such as rice, lentils, sambar, aviyal, pickle, thoran, pappadam and payasam. There are plans to vary the payasam each day. Currently, around 4,000 people participate in the annadanam daily. With proper arrangements, the number of participants is expected to increase.