Kerala’s annual school festival has sparked a controversy over the serving of vegetarian-only meals and the wider issue of whether having Brahmin cooks supports or contradicts the spirit of the anti-casteist “renaissance” led by Narayana Guru over a century ago.

For the past six decades, the state government-organised Kerala School Kalolsavam has served only vegetarian meals to the thousands of schoolchildren, teachers, judges and guests participating in its various events, from music and dance to painting and literary programmes.

It’s during the current edition of the festival — the 61st — being held in Kozhikode from January 3 to 7, that controversy over the menu has erupted for the first time in a state where most people eat non-vegetarian food.

State education minister V. Sivankutty on Thursday promised to add non-vegetarian food from next year’s festival, suggesting it was too late to make changes now.

The row began with a Facebook post by the writer and general secretary of the Kerala Purogamana Kala Sahithya Sangham (art and literary forum for social renaissance), Asokan Charuvil, that said: “A Brahmin cook is a contribution of social renaissance in Kerala.”

The reference was to celebrity chef Pazhayidom Mohanan Namboothiri, a Brahmin by caste, winning the tender for providing four meals a day to the festival participants for the 16th year.

Charuvil’s point seemed to be that having a Brahmin doing the apparently menial job of a cook reflected a triumph of Narayana Guru’s social reform movement. But others immediately argued that having Brahmin cooks emphasised, instead, the casteist idea that food cooked by the lower castes was too “impure” for the upper castes to eat.

They also underlined that since Brahmins are vegetarians, appointing them as cooks ensured that only vegetarian meals would be served. Attacking the Left-leaning Charuvil’s contention, Congress leader V.T. Balram asked why the Left Democratic Front government was bent on serving only vegetarian food cooked by a Brahmin.

“In fact, this is sabotaging the renaissance. It is a failure of the objective of the renaissance to overcome casteism. We need to identify and correct such anti-renaissance acts prevalent even at government events,” Balram wrote on Facebook.

“Let our youth festivals transform into events where non-brahmins cook non-vegetarian food as well.”

Balram added: “Brahmins were always the cooks at major feasts even then (before Narayana Guru’s movement). The reason is the antiquated thought that food would become impure if touched by anyone other than a Brahmin or a person from (any other) upper caste.”

He said it was such casteist prejudices that led to foodstuff such as pickles being sold under the “Brahmin” label in the market.

As a debate started on social media, Sivankutty told reporters: “It may not be possible to serve non-vegetarian food at this year’s festival. But from next year, vegetarian and non-vegetarian food will be served.”

Sivankutty emphasised that state-level sports meets always provided the participants with non-vegetarian food.

He asked why Balaram had raised the issue now, when all the previous editions of the school festival — even those held on the watch of Congress-led United Democratic Front governments — had served only vegetarian food.

“Was Balaram asleep when youth festivals were held during UDF rule?” the minister asked. Namboothiri said he would rather focus on the task at hand.

“I am not concerned about controversies. My job is to provide good food for the participants,” he told reporters on Thursday.

“The food we prepare is based on a menu supplied by the (festival) food committee. It’s the food committee that needs to make any changes. My only role is to fulfill the responsibility assigned to me by the government.”

The vegetarian menu at the school event resembles the traditional sadya or festive meal served during festivals like Onam.

“Each dish is tested at a laboratory before being served. Yesterday alone we served over 22,000 meals during lunchtime. My job is to ensure that quality food is cooked and served,” Namboothiri said. Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said: “It is the food committee that decides what is served. There’s no need for a controversy around it.”