KOCHI: A petition has been filed at the

questioning the alleged ban on staging any

as an offering at the Lotus Feet of

at Sabarimala.

The petition was filed by

alias Sivakumar Amruthakala of Vallamkulam in Thiruvalla, who claims to be a traditional artist of

, alleging that he has been denied permission for staging the performance during the current pilgrimage season despite repeated requests.

According to the petitioner, he has taken a vow to perform Ayyappa Sopana Sangeetham at the Kalmandapam at Sabarimala shrine every mandalam season and he had performed there during the last three pilgrim seasons. Last year, the programme was inaugurated by an IPS officer who was in charge of the security arrangements at Sabarimala. A CD containing his songs was also released at the Kalmandapam, the petition filed through advocate

said.

Being a traditional Sopana Sangeetham artist, he had performed at the Lotus Feet like other artists. But this year, he was told that there is an absolute ban on staging any artistic performance at Kalmandapam on account of the restrictions imposed by police, the petitioner has alleged.

Offering artistic performance at Sabarimala is an integral part of an essential ritualistic practice being followed by artists among Ayyappa devotees. Travancore Devasom Board built a Kalmandapam with an inbuilt sound system. Several famous artists have performed there as offering, including KJ Yesudas, K Veeramani, Sivamani, K Jayachandran, MG Sreekumar, Jayan, and Vijayan, said the petition.