Source: The Hindu, Chennai


THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, INDIA, December 14, 2000: An inquisition by the crime branch of the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala, South India, has been ordered by the administrative board after a bloated lizard and a shrew tail was discovered in a prasadam (food blessed in the temple ritual) can by a devotee. Ruling out the possibility that the creatures were cooked or packed in the prasadam is the fact that the cooking process is done at 300 degrees Celsius. Neither the rat nor the lizard were charred. A similar incident of contamination at the Aravana Temple in November resulted in the high court ordering an investigation by the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau.