Pathanamthitta, August 15, 2013: Travancore Devaswom Board President M.P. Govindan Nair will lay the foundation stone for two modern buildings to house ‘Annadana Mandapam’ at the Sabarimala hill shrine on August 19, according to Board member Subhash Vasu. The ‘Annadana Mandapams’ (eating places for devotees) have been proposed as part of the ‘Master Plan’ at Sabarimala. Talking to The Hindu , the TDB member said the stone-laying ceremony would be held in an auspicious time ( muhurtham ) between 11.20 a.m. and 12.10 noon on Monday.

P.K. Kumaran, Subhash Vasu, both Board members; P. Venugopal, Devaswom Commissioner, and N. Babu, Special Commissioner appointed by Kerala High Court, will be present on the occasion.Each of the two-storey Annadana Mandapam, in an area of 21,500 sq ft, is estimated to cost Rs.6 crore. The ground floor of both the structures would be completed by November first week itself, Mr Vasu said.Sunil Swami and Ashok Swami of the Sabari Group of Companies and Sudarshana Reddy of the Andhra Pradesh unit of the Sabarimala Ayyappa Seva Samajom will be sponsoring the two Annadana Mandapams, he said.

Source: The Hindu, DT. August 15, 2013.