Kerala - Alappuzha

GI status to be sought for temple ‘prasadam’

ALAPPUZHA: After coir, one more item from Alappuzha district may soon receive Geographical Indication (GI) certification. An application for GI certification for the hugely popular ‘Ambalappuzha palpayasam,’ which is distributed as ‘prasadam’ to devotees at Ambalappuzha Sri Krishna Temple, is expected to be submitted soon to the Office of Geographical Indications, Chennai.

The ‘palpayasam,’ unique for its light pink colour and taste apart from the centuries-old legend attached to it, will become the second item from Alappuzha to be accorded GI status. In July last year, coir from the district was given the certification and is now known under the brand name ‘Alleppey Coir.’

M. Kumaraswami Pillai, executive director of the Alappuzha Coir Cluster Development Society, who had prepared the project report for GI certification of ‘Alleppey Coir,’ recently suggested similar certification for the ‘payasam’ to Coir and Cooperation Minister G. Sudhakaran, who represents the Ambalappuzha constituency.

“Such a certification would help eliminate the threat of imitations and give the ‘payasam’ a global label. Once GI status is accorded, the item would be listed on the web site of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). All this would benefit tourism as well,” Mr. Pillai told The Hindu. As of now, apart from Alleppey Coir and the ‘Aranmula Kannadi,’ the ‘Palakkadan matta’ and ‘Njavara’ varieties of rice have received GI certification.

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