THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A temple will be the last place where you would see a neatly arranged stack of 101 Old Monk rum bottles. But, believers at Poruvazhy Peruviruthy Malanada Duryodhana temple at Edakkad in Kollam won’t bat an eyelid as alcohol is the favourite offering for their deity, Kaurava king Duryodhana. On Friday, when flag was hoisted for the annual festival, a devotee placed 101 Old Monk bottles as offering.The only Duryodhana temple in south India is known for its rituals such as the alcohol offering. The legend associated with the temple is that Duryodhana once came to this village and he was thirsty. He sought some water from a house and was given toddy and he was extremely pleased.The only Duryodhana temple in south India is known for its rituals such as the alcohol offering.Temple secretary S B Jagadeesh said that it was usual to give foreign liquor as offering to the deity, though such a huge quantity is a rarity. “Earlier, arrack used to be offered. After its ban, toddy and foreign liquor were allowed. Pan, chicken, goat, silk cloth etc... are other major offerings,” he said, adding that an NRI from Kollam had placed the offering.Jagadeesh said people from all religions pray here. “Fishermen will carry the flag of temple in their mast. They believe Appoppan (as the deity is called respectfully) will save them from trouble,” he said.Kiran Deepu, a local resident, who was present at the time of offering, said: “Some people, when they return home from foreign countries, offer rare liquor to Appoppan. Usually, some offerings are auctioned at the temple premises itself. I think this huge quantity of liquor has put the temple administration in a catch-22 situation,” he said, adding that the person who gave the offering remained anonymous.Malanada temple has many specialties. “The temple lacks a sanctum sanctorum. Instead there is only a raised platform, which is open 24 hours. We have committee members from all castes and election is conducted within each community to select their representative,” Jagadeesh said.Fireworks display too was part of the temple festival until 1990, when a major fireworks tragedy killed 26 people. “After that tragedy, the festival became a simple affair,” he said.Not just Malanada, Parassinikadavu Muthappan temple in Kannur used to offer foreign liquor, but now the offering has been restricted to toddy over the past five years.Unlike other temples which follow sattvic brahminical tradition, deities such as Muthappan and Duryodhana have tamasic qualities.

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