Aravana Stock Shortage Continues at Sabarimala
Sabarimala currently has only 13.40 lakh tins of Aravana in reserve. The shortage is expected to continue during the Makaravilakku season, and restrictions on distribution will remain in place.
When the temple opened for the Mandala pilgrimage season, the reserve stock of Aravana was 45 lakh tins. Authorities expect a similar number of pilgrims to arrive during Makaravilakku. However, since the required reserve could not be prepared in advance, restrictions were imposed on Aravana distribution.
The Devaswom Board has decided to limit the sale to a maximum of 20 Tins per pilgrim. At present, only 2.80 lakh tins of Aravana can be produced per day. There are 26 steel vessels used for cooking—13 for preparing jaggery syrup and 13 for making Aravana. This setup allows the preparation of 208 batches per day. There is space to install six more vessels, but plans to add more cooking units could not be implemented.
The number of cooling chambers available for Aravana is limited to six, which has also restricted increased production.
The total revenue during the Mandala season was ₹332.72 crore, with a major share coming from Aravana sales. The price of one tin of Aravana is ₹100. Pilgrims from other states make sure to purchase Aravana prasadam, so all members of pilgrim groups stand in queues. This has resulted in heavy crowding in front of the counters.