Temple authorities in tight corner as Kerala HC orders probe into weight drop of Sabarimala gold idols

The high court had already raised serious concerns over removing gold plated coverings of idol and sending it to Chennai for repair work without its permission.

Thiruvananthapuram: The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) that manages the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple is facing major embarrassment as the Kerala High Court on Wednesday ordered probe into the discrepancies in the gold plated copper cover of the Dwarapalaka idols at the entrance of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.

The Kerala HC pointed out that the weight of the gold plated copper cover came down by 4.541 kilogram after it was taken to Chennai for gold plating that was done as offering by a Bengaluru-based devotee Unnikrishnan Potti.

The total weight of the gold cladded copper coverings was 42.8 kilograms before it was given for gold plating in August 2019. After the gold plating was done it came down to 38.258 kilogram. This discrepancy was not reported, the HC pointed out and ordered a probe by Devaswom vigilance.

Unnikrishnan Potti told a section of the media that the company could be giving scientific explanations for the drop in weight after gold plating.

Already the HC had raised serious concerns over removing the gold plated coverings of the idol and sending it to Chennai for repair work without the court's permission.

Sangh Parivar outfits are carrying out a campaign against the Devaswom board  as well as the left-front government over it.