Travancore Devaswom Board’s Vigilance wing is conducting an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of invaluable gold-plated copper foils overlaying the intricate stone carvings, together with sculptures, at Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple. | Photo Credit: LEJU KAMAL
All India Congress Committee (AICC) normal secretary (Organisation), Okay.C. Venugopal, sought a Kerala High Court-monitored probe by a better company with sweeping investigative powers.
Former Union Minister and BJP chief V. Muraleedharan dared the federal government handy over the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Both the Congress and the BJP appeared decided to up the ante towards the Kerala authorities, particularly in gentle of “rising proof” that the TDB had entrusted the gilded claddings to “personal brokers” for refurbishment, thereby violating the temple handbook.
They alleged that the High Court-appointed Special Commission for Sabarimala was blindsided by the “unlawful act”, which opened the door for pilferage by permitting intermediaries to take the coverings for restore to Chennai.
The Opposition events additionally accused the TDB of “permitting personal brokers” to monetise the Ayyappa religion” by providing particular privileges to the wealthy and the highly effective on the temple throughout darshan and allowing them to surreptitiously spirit out invaluable temple artefacts for personal worship.
The “lacking” gold coverings had snowballed into a serious controversy final week after the TDB Vigilance recovered a couple of “stolen” plaques from the residence of Unnikrishnan Potti, a former temple worker, who had reported the artefacts lacking from the strongroom within the run-up to the Global Ayyappa Sangamam.
Jayaram says will cooperate with probe
The scandal additional spiralled on Friday, after movies shot in 2019 of Mr. Potty consecrating one other set of gold coverings, supposedly sure for the Sabarimala temple after restore, together with on the residence of actor Jayaram, in Chennai, emerged.
Mr. Jayaram advised reporters in Chennai that he would cooperate with the investigation. He mentioned he had identified Mr. Potty for years and repeatedly noticed him at Sabarimala through the annual Makaravilakku pageant. He mentioned he had additionally attended some inaugurations at Mr. Potty’s occasion and that Mr. Potty facilitated Ayyappa darshan for “VIP devotees” from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Meanwhile, pictures and video footage of Mr. Potty socialising with influential figures, together with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, former Devasom Minister Kadakampally Surendran and the present high brass of the State police, have emerged, additional deepening the scandal.
Mr. Venugopal and Mr. Muraleedharan additionally alleged that the coverings returned to the temple by the identical set of intermediaries in 2019, reportedly after a radical overhaul in Chennai, have been pure copper, and never the unique gold-plated alloy donated to Sabarimala by liquor baron Vijay Mallaya in 1999.
They identified that the High Court had famous a drastic discount in weight of the coverings, an estimated 4 kg of gold.
Published – October 03, 2025 01:35 pm IST
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