Fact Check: The contract of preparing Sabrimala offering has not been given to Muslims, fake claim is getting viral
In our investigation, we found that it is a fake communal claim The contract for making Sabarimala Prasad has not been awarded to Al Jaha Sweets LLC. The work of making offerings for the temple is still with the Travancore Devasam Board.
- By: Sharad Prakash Asthana
- Published: Dec 2, 2021 at 04:28 PM
New Delhi (Vishvas News). Many social media users are sharing a photo claiming that the Kerala Devasam Board has awarded a contract to a Muslim to make Prasad Aravan Payasam of Sabarimala and now the name of this Prasad has been changed to Al Jaha. The post, which is going viral with a communal claim, also states that the prasad prepared after the change of company is not only Islamic but also Halal certified.
In our investigation, we found that it is a fake communal claim. The contract for making Sabarimala Prasad has not been awarded to Al Jaha Sweets LLC. The work of making offerings for the temple is still with the Travancore Devasam Board. In December 2020, the Postal Circle of Kerala had tied up with the Travancore Devaswom Board to deliver the Sabarimala temple offerings to the devotees. Since the new facility, devotees can also order the package of Prasadam (or Prasad) through the post.
What’s in the viral post
Sharing the viral post, Twitter user ‘🚩sandeep singh🚩Sanatani ‘ wrote, “This is Aravana Payasam a traditional sweet available only in SABRIMALA SANIDHAM, Kerala. Kerala Devasom Board awarded tender to Muslim, which is HALAL certified. Why Prasad is #HALAL certified? Why Kerala Govt playing with Hindus emotion?
Investigation
We started our investigation by checking Sabrimala’s official website sabarimalatemple.in from where online booking for Sabarimala prasadam can be done.
On doing an online search, we found the website of sabarimalatemple.in, from where online booking for Sabarimala prasadam can be done. The website also has a picture of this prasad box with ‘Travancore Devasam Board’ written on it, while the box seen in the viral image has ‘Al Zahaa Sweet LLC’ written on it.
This website also provides information about Aravana Prasad along with other offerings and their price and it is advised to visit https://sabarimalaonline.org website to get online coupons for Prasad.
We found a tweet by Twitter user Indu Makkal Katchi (Offl) and saw a comment from a user named Self-proclaimed Goddess, in which he said that this is not the original Sabarimala offering. Along with this, he also posted a picture where he described it as real Prasad and this picture matches with the box of Prasad on the website of sabarimalatemple.in.
So far in our investigation, it was clear that the responsibility of making the offerings of the Sabarimala temple are with the Travancore Devasam Board and the contract for its construction was not given to any Muslim person or company and both the pictures going viral are different. Al Jaha’s Aravan Payasam product is not related to the Sabarimala temple and is a completely different product from the Sabarimala offerings.
On the news search, we found NDTV’s article published on 2 December 2020. According to the article, the Postal Circle of Kerala has joined into an agreement with the Travancore Devaswom Board. Under this, devotees can now book Swami Prasadam packages from any post office for Rs 450.
In our news search, we have not found anything related to the tender for making the prasad given to anyone. After this, we contacted the commissioner of the Travancore Devasam Board. He dismissed the viral claim and said, ‘It is fake news. No such tender has been handed over to anyone.
We also searched about Al Zahaa Sweet LLC. According to the information we found out, this company is located in the city of Ajman, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Vishvas News contacted Al Jaha on Facebook regarding the viral post. He told, ‘We are also aware of this rumour. We are an LLC company, based in the United Arab Emirates. We distribute our products to all major supermarkets and hypermarkets of UAE. We do not have any contract with any Indian or Kerala based company or board. We sell our products only in UAE.
He said that “Our Arvan Payasam brand has nothing to do with any religion, caste or creed. It is nowhere related to Lord Ayyappa or Sabarimala.
Conclusion: In our investigation, we found that it is a fake communal claim The contract for making Sabarimala Prasad has not been awarded to Al Jaha Sweets LLC. The work of making offerings for the temple is still with the Travancore Devasam Board.
- Claim Review : This is Aravana Payasam a traditional sweet available only in SABRIMALA SANIDHAM, Kerala. Kerala Devasom Board awarded tender to Muslim, which is HALAL certified. Why Prasad is #HALAL certified?
- Claimed By : sandeep singh
- Fact Check : False
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