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Kerala temples ban oleander offering after woman’s death

By, Kochi
May 11, 2024 08:26 AM IST

The ban on the use of the flower comes nearly 10 days after a woman in Alappuzha district died after suspected poisoning from the accidental consumption of oleander leaves

Two temple administration boards in Kerala have banned the use of ‘arali’ (oleander) flower in the offerings to the deity (naivedyam) as well as in food given to devotees as ‘prasadam’ in the backdrop of concerns over the toxic content in it, people familiar with the matter said.

Two temple administration boards in Kerala have banned the use of ‘arali’ flower in the offerings to the deity (naivedyam) as well as in food given to devotees as ‘prasadam’ (AFP)
Two temple administration boards in Kerala have banned the use of ‘arali’ flower in the offerings to the deity (naivedyam) as well as in food given to devotees as ‘prasadam’ (AFP)

PS Prasanth, president of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) which manages temples mostly in southern Kerala including the famous Sabarimala shrine, said on Thursday that the temples under it have been prohibited from using the flower.

“We have decided to completely avoid using the flower in temples especially in ‘naivedyam’ and ‘prasadam’. Instead, the devotees should offer tulsi leaves, ‘thechi’ (Jungle geranium) and hibiscus. The oleader flowers can be used for pujas, but it should not reach the hands of devotees. The decision has been communicated to all the assistant commissioners of the board,” he said.

The Malabar Devaswom Board (MDB), which manages around 1,300 temples mostly in northern Kerala, made the similar announcement. MDB president MR Murali told PTI, “Although the Arali flower is not widely used in rituals in temples, its use is banned considering the safety of devotees. Studies have found that the flower contains toxic substances.”

The ban on the use of the flower comes nearly 10 days after a woman in Alappuzha district died after suspected poisoning from the accidental consumption of oleander leaves. On April 28, Surya Surendran, who had got a job as a nurse in UK, vomited and collapsed at the Cochin International Airport. A day later, she died at a private hospital.

The station house officer of Haripad, K Abhilash Kumar, told HT that the postmortem report of the woman pointed to some kind of toxic substance in her blood.

“We are led believe that it was her accidental consumption of the ‘arali’ leaves, which has toxic content, that led to her death. She had told the doctors at Tiruvalla that she had consumed the leaf and spit it out as well. But the leaf juice may have gone in, causing the heart attack, that eventually led to her death. Since she doesn’t have any history of heart disease, there is no other reason for her death,” he said.

“Her blood samples have been sent for detailed chemical analysis. The report will come in a few days,” the officer said.

It has been proved scientifically that Nerium oleander, commonly known as oleander, has toxic compounds in all its parts and its ingestion will lead to vomiting, nausea, bloody diarrhoea and irregular heart rhythm.

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