Against the backdrop of the fireworks tragedy at Puttingal temple in Kollam district, the Pathanamthitta District Collector has temporarily prohibited the ‘vedi vazhipaadu’ offering at Sabarimala temple.
‘Vedi vazhipaadu’ is a popular offering by devotees that involves the blasting of ‘kathina’ which is stuffed with gun powder. The district police had reported that there were not enough security measures in place at the temple to carry on with the offering.
The police had found that the temple kept 420 kg of unlicensed explosives for using in the offering.
The explosives were kept in an extremely unsafe area and no precautionary measures were taken to prevent untoward incidents.