Kochi: At least two persons have been arrested so far by the Kerala high court-constituted special investigation team (SIT), which has been probing the misappropriation of gold from the gold-plated copper sheets covering the ‘Dwarapalaka’ sculptures and the side frames of the sanctum sanctorum at the Sabarimala Sree Ayyappa temple – a case that has escalated into a major political controversy in the state ahead of crucial local body polls.

History and significance of Sabarimala temple

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

The temple is unique from other shrines in the fact that it is only open during the 41 days of the Mandalam festival, around 22-odd days of the Makaravilakku festival, around 10 days of the annual festival in April and the first five days of every Malayalam month. In short, the shrine is only open around 150 days of a 365-day calendar.

Another tradition of the temple dictates that women of menstruating age between 10 and 50 are not allowed, citing the belief that the deity at Sabarimala is celibate. The rule was challenged in the Supreme Court, which in 2018 by a 4-1 verdict overturned the ban on the entry of women of a certain age. However, severe protests lashed all over in Kerala with parties like the Congress and the BJP taking up positions in favour of the ban on women. In 2019, the case was handed to a larger Constitution bench, which has not concluded its hearings so far.

The heavy pilgrim rush at Sabarimala is witnessed during the 41-day Mandalam season, starting on the first day of the Malayalam month of Vrishchikam (mid-November), before which the faithful observe a 41-day period of strict vows, wearing black or blue clothes, abstain from meat and carry the ‘irumudikettu’ (a pouch containing sacred offerings such as coconut, honey, turmeric etc for the deity).

To reach the temple atop the hill, pilgrims have to climb the steep Neelimala, which has been paved over the years. Elderly pilgrims have the option to be carried on palanquins to the top.

Some reports say the Mandalam season at Sabarimala is the world’s largest annual pilgrimage in terms of number of adherents. The 2024-25 pilgrimage between mid-November and mid-January saw 54 lakh pilgrims visit the shrine, officials of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which administers the shrine, said.

With the temple commanding millions of faithful and a great deal of spiritual significance among people in Kerala, any issue pertaining to it is always an emotive one and often strays into the political arena.

Origin of the gold pilferation row

The entire row came to the fore in September after the special commissioner for Sabarimala R Jayakrishnan reported to the high court that the gold-inlaid copper panels, covering the ‘dwarapalaka’ (door guardian) sculptures, were taken out of the temple premises and escorted to a private firm named Smart Creations in Chennai for renovation without taking permission from him or the Devaswom bench of the high court.

Jayakrishnan had reported that the development was alarming since the court’s permission was necessary for any such move on the temple assets. The decision was also a violation of the TDB sub-group manual, which stated that all repair works of that nature must be carried out within the temple premises itself.

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

The high court, at this juncture, expressed surprise at why the panels, which were renovated in Chennai in 2019 and had a warranty of 40 years, were again sent for the same kind of repairs six years later.

It is to be underlined that the sanctum sanctorum, housing the chief deity, including the ‘dwarapalakas’ were gold-plated back in 1999 as part of donation by then UB Group chairman and industrialist Vijay Mallya.

On September 17, the high court made the shocking revelation that the gold-plated panels and the two ‘peedams’ weighed only 38.25 kg while being returned from the Chennai-based firm in 2019 when originally it weighed 42.80 kg, a glaring reduction of over four kilograms and pointing to possible misappropriation of gold. It was also found that the gold-plated panels were recorded as mere ‘copper sheets’ in an official TDB document, another glaring lapse found by the high court.

Around the same time, a Devaswom (Vigilance) wing found two pedestals, part of the temple’s assets, as part of searches conducted at the home of Potty’s sister days after Potty himself claimed that the pedestals were missing from the safe storage of the temple. These developments pointed to the role of Potty in the alleged theft of temple assets.

What has the high court done so far?

The high court has so far ordered separate probes first by the chief vigilance and security officer (CVSO) of Sabarimala and followed by the special investigation team (SIT) of the Kerala police headed by S Sasidharan.

The high court has observed that the irregularities are “of the gravest nature, striking at the very core of the integrity, and transparency that must guide the administration of a temple of such sanctity and public trust.”

The court said that it did not know that it was opening a “hornet’s nest” while issuing orders for the seizure of all the mahazars and Devaswom files related to the management of the temple assets.

Observing that there was no proper inventory of the gold, silver, precious stones and articles of antiquity, the high court appointed former judge KT Sankaran to conduct a comprehensive appraisal and prepare a fully digitised and verifiable inventory of all valuables at Sabarimala.

The high court has also found irregularities in the side frames of the sanctum sanctorum as well. In an interim order based on a preliminary report filed by the SIT, the high court noted that Potty was wrongly permitted by the Devaswom officials to retain around 409 grams of gold extracted from the gold-cladded side frames. Officials, despite being fully aware of the fact, took no steps to recover the stolen gold, it said.

The high court has asked the SIT to uncover the larger conspiracy of top TDB officials in trying to hush up the theft of gold assets starting in 2019 and failing to document the management of the assets.

SIT’s probe so far

So far, the SIT has questioned multiple persons and arrested two people – Potty and B Murari Babu, a former Sabarimala administrative officer.

While Potty has been arraigned as the key accused, Babu’s charge is of misrepresenting the gold-plated panels as simply ‘copper sheets’ in his report while handing the panels for renovation this year. Potty has claimed that he was ‘trapped’ in the case and pleaded innocence.

Babu stands suspended from the TDB following charges against him by the Devaswom (Vigilance) wing.

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

Those including Padmakumar and Vasu are set to be questioned by the SIT soon.

The probe team is also examining the financial transactions and bank records of Potty and trying to decipher if the gold he allegedly stole from the temple assets has been resold at market value or at a higher price to private individuals.

Stance of LDF government and the TDB

Both the LDF minister in charge of temple affairs VN Vasavan and TDB president PS Prasanth have welcomed the probes announced by the high court and have volunteered to cooperate with the investigations.

While Vasavan has upheld TDB’s autonomy and the state government’s commitment to protecting the temple assets, Prasanth has maintained that the council led by him has not erred in the management of assets including the ‘dwarapalaka’ sculptures and the side frames.

At the same time, leaders of the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have mounted attacks on the government and demanded the resignation of Vasavan and Prasanth. Both parties have also unleashed protests across the state, dubbing the government as “temple thieves”.