Ayyappa devotees meet held at Cherukolpuzha

Government would implement more pilgrim-amenity projects at Sabarimala in the next eight months itself, said V.S.Sivakumar, Devaswom Minister.

The Minister was inaugurating the Ayyappa devotees’ meet held as part of the 100th annual Hindu religious meet at Cherukolpuzha near Kozhencherry on Thursday.

Mr. Sivakumar said the work on the proposed sewage treatment plant at Sabarimala would begin this year itself and the heavy maintenance of the main trunk roads leading to Sabarimala, estimated at 60 lakhs, would also be launched soon.

The Minister said roofing of the entire Pampa-Sannidhanam stretch of the Sabarimala path would carried before the beginning of the next annual pilgrim season.

Kanchi seer seeks law against conversion

Delivering the benedictory speech, Swami Jayendra Saraswati, Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetom, said the State Government should enact appropriate legislation to prevent conversion in Kerala too as was done in Tamil Nadu.

The Kanchi seer has called upon the Government to formulate a new education policy with special emphasis to check value erosion and instilling values in education and to further value erosion.

He said the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetom was ready to set up schools with more emphasis on value addition in different parts of the State, provided the Government allotted land for the same.

Swami Satchidananda Saraswati of Vivekananda Yogashram at Thodupuzha presided. P.Venugopal, District Collector, D.Narayana Sarma from Thiruvananthapuram and Swami Vijayabhaskarananda of Kidangannur Vijayananda Ashram, also spoke.

The Kanchi Seer inaugurated the Vidyadhiraja Cultural Centre on the banks of river Pampa at Cherukolpuzha, later.