Explained: Controversy over Sabarimala temple and missing gold

History and importance of Sabarimala temple

The hill shrine of Sabarimala, where the presiding deity is Lord Ayyappa, is located within the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala, surrounded by 18 hills, and holds great significance among Hindus, especially Ayyappa devotees from the five South Indian states.

This temple is unique from other temples in that it is open only during 41 days of Mandalam festival, about 22 days of Makaravilakku festival, about 10 days of annual festival in April and the first five days of every Malayalam month. In short, this temple is open only for about 150 days of the 365-day calendar.

Another temple tradition dictates that menstruating women between the ages of 10 and 50 are not allowed, citing the belief that the deities at Sabarimala are celibate. The rule was challenged in the Supreme Court, which overturned the ban on entry of women of a certain age in a 4-1 decision in 2018. However, there were serious protests everywhere in Kerala and parties like Congress and BJP took a stand in favor of the ban on women. In 2019, the case was referred to a larger constitution bench, which has not yet completed its hearing.

Sabarimala sees huge crowds of pilgrims during the 41-day Mandalam season starting from the first day of the Malayalam month of Vrischikam (mid-November), before which devotees observe a strict vow of 41 days, wear black or blue clothes, abstain from meat and carry ‘Irumudikettu’ (a bag containing sacred offerings like coconut, honey, turmeric etc.). God).

To reach the temple situated atop the hill, pilgrims have to climb the steep climb to Nilimala, which has been paved over the years. Elderly pilgrims have the option of being taken to the top on a palanquin.

Some reports state that the Mandalam season at Sabarimala is the world’s largest annual pilgrimage in terms of number of followers. Officials of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which manages the temple, said 54 lakh pilgrims visited the temple in the 2024-25 pilgrimage season between mid-November and mid-January.

Since the temple has lakhs of devotees and its spiritual importance is very high among the people in Kerala, any issue related to it is always emotional and often moves into the political arena.

Origin of the gold theft row

The entire controversy came to light in September when Sabarimala Special Commissioner R Jayakrishnan told the High Court that the gold-encrusted copper panels covering the ‘Dvarapalak’ (door guardian) idols were taken out of the temple premises and taken to a private firm called Smart Creations in Chennai for renovation without seeking permission from him or the Devaswom bench of the High Court.

Jayakrishnan had said that this development was worrying as the court’s permission was required for any such step on the temple property. The decision was also in violation of the TDB sub-group manual, which stated that all repair work of that nature should be carried out within the temple premises only.

Apparently, the renovation of the gold-plated panels was sponsored by Unnikrishnan Potty, a Bengaluru-based businessman who was once a junior priest at Sabarimala. Potty was the one who volunteered to sponsor the renovation of the panels, including gold polishing and electro-plating, in 2019.

On this occasion, the High Court expressed surprise as to why the panels which were renovated in Chennai in 2019 and had a warranty of 40 years, were sent again for similar repairs six years later.

It should be underlined that the sanctum sanctorum, which houses the main deities including the ‘Dwarpalaka’, was gold plated in 1999 as part of a donation by the then UB Group chairman and industrialist Vijay Mallya.

On September 17, the High Court shockingly revealed that the gold-plated panel and two ‘peedams’ when returned from the Chennai-based firm in 2019 weighed only 38.25 kg, while it originally weighed 42.80 kg, a shortfall of more than four kg and pointing to possible misappropriation of the gold. It was also found that the gold plated panels were recorded as mere ‘copper sheets’ in the official TDB document, which was another major omission found by the High Court.

Around the same time, during a search conducted at the house of Potty’s sister, the Devaswom (vigilance) wing found two pedestals, which were part of the temple property, when Potty himself claimed that the pedestals were missing from the safe storage of the temple. These developments pointed to Potty’s role in the alleged theft of temple property.

What has the High Court done so far?

The High Court has so far ordered separate investigations, first by the Chief Vigilance and Security Officer (CVSO) of Sabarimala and then by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Kerala Police headed by S Sasidharan.

The high court has said that the irregularities are “of a serious nature, which strikes at the core of integrity and transparency which should guide the administration of a temple of such sanctity and public trust.”

The court said it did not know that it was opening a “hornet’s nest” when it issued the order to seize all Maharajas and Devaswom files relating to the management of temple property.

Noting that there was no proper inventory of gold, silver, precious stones and antiquities, the High Court appointed former judge KT Sankaran to conduct a comprehensive assessment and prepare a fully digitized and verifiable inventory of all the precious objects at Sabarimala.

The High Court has also found irregularities in the side frame of the sanctum sanctorum. In an interim order based on the preliminary report filed by the SIT, the High Court said that the potty was wrongly given permission by the Devaswom authorities to keep about 409 grams of gold extracted from the side frame made of gold. It said that despite the authorities being fully aware of the fact, no steps were taken to recover the stolen gold.

The High Court has asked the SIT to uncover a larger conspiracy of top TDB officials to try to suppress the theft of gold assets starting in 2019 and failing to document the management of the assets.

SIT’s investigation so far

So far, the SIT has interrogated several people and arrested two people – Potty and former Sabarimala administrative officer B Murari Babu.

While Potty has been convicted as the main accused, Babu is accused of misrepresenting the panels made of gold as mere ‘copper sheets’ in his report while submitting the panels for renewal this year. Potty has claimed that he was ‘trapped’ in the case and has pleaded innocent.

Babu has been suspended from the TDB following the allegations made against him by the Devaswom (vigilance) wing.

The SIT has also booked CPI(M) leader and former TDB president A Padmakumar, N Vasu, another TDB president who served in 2019, and all members of the TDB Governing Council in 2019.

SIT will soon interrogate Padmakumar and Vasu and others.

The investigation team is also examining Potty’s financial transactions and bank records and trying to find out whether he sold the gold allegedly stolen from the temple property at the market price or at a higher price to private individuals.

Stance of LDF government and TDB

LDF minister VN Vasavan, in-charge of temple affairs, and TDB president PS Prashant have both welcomed the probe announced by the High Court and have volunteered to cooperate in the investigation.

While Vasavan has maintained the autonomy of the TDB and the state government’s commitment to protect the temple property, Prashanth has said that the council led by him has made no mistakes in the management of the properties, including the ‘Dvarapalak’ idols and side frames.

At the same time, leaders of Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have attacked the government and demanded the resignation of Vasavan and Prashant. Both parties have also staged protests across the state terming the government a “temple thief”.