Date:04/07/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/07/04/stories/2009070450770200.htm

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Arrangements for Vavu Bali

Special Correspondent

Thiruvananthapuram: A high-level official meeting of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) here on Wednesday decided to make advance preparations for the Karkidaka Vavu Bali on July 21 in temples under its purview all over the State.

The board has deployed deputy commissioners as special officers to oversee arrangements at the Thiruvallam, Varkala, Aluva and Thirumullavaram temples.

Officers of the rank of assistant commissioner have been posted at Aruvikara, Shangumughom, Kadhinamkulam, Thrivikramangalam and Rameswaram in Neyyattinkara.

More priests would be pressed into service at the Parasurama temple at Thiruvallam to handle the rituals. As many as 15 chief priests and 13 associates would be posted at the temple and 12 chief priests on the banks of the river with 12 associates.

The meeting decided to deploy 175 workers to clean up the temple and the surroundings. Temporary sheds would be constructed on the temple premises and the river bank for devotees to offer Bali. Barricades would be erected for crowd control.

Ticket counters would be opened in the area around the temple. Tickets would be available one week in advance. The meeting decided to clean up the river near the temple and construct a check dam.

The board would coordinate the functioning of the Health Department, City Corporation, police and the Kerala State Electricity Board to provide drinking water, power and other facilities to devotees.