Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 4 (IANS): Days after the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) announced that Ambalapuzha Sri Krishna Temple's famed 'Ambalapuzha Palpayasam' will be known by its original name 'Gopala Kashayam' henceforth, the Congress on Monday said the rechristening of the temple offering was to keep alive the memory of CPI-M leader A.K.Gopalan.

TDB controls the administration of numerous temples, including Sabarimala, in Kerala. Its President A. Padmakumar is a former CPI-M legislator and his term at the TDB ends soon.

'Ambalapuzha Palpayasam', a kheer-like dessert prepared with sweetened milk and rice, is the main offering at Alappuzha's Ambalapuzha Sri Krishna Temple.

Former Kerala Congress chief M.M.Hassan said the renaming of the temple offering had been opposed by people, including historian and writer Ambalapuzha Gopakumar and poet Sreekumaran Thampi.

"If this offering was earlier known as 'Gopala Kashayam' and this has been done to please the people, as Padmakumar says, why did he wait till the last few days of his tenure to do this? Perhaps he should now place a statue of Pinarayi Vijayan in the foothills of the Sabarimala temple with the caption 'the revolutionary who brought renaissance at Sabarimala' and the Kerala Chief Minister too will become a part of history," said Hassan.