Temples go back to firewood in lieu of LPG

Tripunithura: As the commercial LPG shortage worsens, most of the temples are planning to roll back to traditional kitchens with firewood for cooking. With the festival season peaking, the issue is expected to aggravate. "We need a minimum of two cylinders for cooking naivedyams (offerings like pudding, boiled rice and other items)," said Guru Prasad, assistant priest of Thamaramkulangara Sree Dharma Sastha Temple. "We have been waiting in vain for refilled cylinders for the past 12 days," the priest said. Most of the offerings are ‘archanas' in the name of students who appear for various exams and while, offerings like pudding are less in number. "However, the coming days are very auspicious as the birth star of the presiding deity is nearing and devotees demand more naivedyam offerings to mark the day," Prasad said. The temple has to serve ‘naivedya sadya' (birthday feast) to hundreds of devotees on Painkuni Uthram day celebrations, which will fall on April 1. "If so, we have no other option but to roll back to firewood. However, as the marriage season started on Sunday (first day of Malayalam month, Meenam), some caterers have shifted to firewood. So, it is very hard to get firewood for temples even if we shifted to the traditional temple kitchen by using firewood," the priest added. Most of the temples under Cochin Devaswam Board, including major temples like Poornathrayeesa and Chottanikkara, have been using firewood to cook offerings for the deities, said M G Yahuldas, assistant commissioner, Chottanikkara Devi Temple. "In Chottanikkara Devi Temple firewood is common in temple kitchen. In Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple, an average of 120 litres of milk pudding (Paal Panthirunaazhi), is being prepared using firewood," he added. In some other temples on village outskirts, devotees help out by providing firewood and coconut shells for cooking at least the routine naivedyams. "Along with routine worshipping materials like flowers, coconut and oil, devotees started to bring firewood, coconut husks and shells to fuel the temple kitchen," said Appu Namboothiri, main priest of Mulanthuruthy Sree Krishna Temple. "Earlier they brought coconut husks and shells for the Ganapathy Homam," he added.