Kerala HC orders probe into sabarimala idol gold loss

The Kerala High Court has initiated a vigilance investigation into a significant loss of gold from the "Dwarapalak" idols at the Sabarimala temple. The controversy surrounds the repair of the idols' gold-plated copper covers in 2019.

A donor named Unnikrishnan took the covers for repair, promising to provide new gold-plated ones. The work was assigned to a company in Chennai. According to temple records, the covers weighed 42.8 kg when they were removed. However, the Chennai company reported that the covers they received weighed only 38.28 kg, a reduction of 4.524 kg.

The court has taken a serious view of this discrepancy. It has questioned why the weight was not verified when the covers were reinstalled and why there was a delay of about 40 days between their removal from the temple and their handover to the company. The court suspects that the weight loss is due to a decrease in gold plating or that the donor may have provided a different set of covers to the company.

A petition was also filed against the removal of the gold covers without informing the Sabarimala Special Commissioner. The court expressed strong anger over this, questioning the lack of prior permission. The Travancore Devaswom Board has been asked to cooperate with the vigilance committee's investigation. The committee is required to submit a full report within three weeks. The next hearing for the case is scheduled for September 30.