<p>A 'Rudrakhsa' gold chain from a famous temple in Kerala is now shrouded in mystery.</p>.<p>The gold-covered 'Rudrakha' beads belong to the Ettumannor Mahadeva Temple in the Kottayam district. A devotee donated the chain to the ancient Siva temple in 2006. Discrepancies in the chain adorning the idol of the deity recently came to light</p>.<p>A probe by the internal vigilance wing of the Travancore Devaswom Board that manages the temple found that while the original chain had 81 gold covered 'Rudraksha' beads, only 72 beads were found now. The loss was estimated to be around Rs 1 lakh. </p>.<p>Meanwhile, a parallel police investigation now found that the old chain that weighed 23 grams had been replaced with a new one weighing 20 grams. Gold appraisers who examined the chain found that the existing chain was only around three years old, a police officer told DH. </p>.<p>The police will be quizzing all those who served as the temple's chief priest of the temple from 2006 to unfold the mystery. The said chain was under the custody of the chief priest and was regularly used for adorning the deity, said the police. </p>.<p>The police also suspect that entries were recently made in the temple register of a new chain. A police team led by Kottayan DySP J Santosh Kumar is investigating the case. </p>.<p>The Ettumannor Mahadeva Temple, situated around 10 kilometres from Kottayam, is famous for its mural paintings and 'Ezharaponnana' (seven-and-a-half elephants) - golden statues of eight elephants of which one is only half the size of the other seven.</p>.<p><em><strong>Check out the latest DH videos here:</strong></em></p>
<p>A 'Rudrakhsa' gold chain from a famous temple in Kerala is now shrouded in mystery.</p>.<p>The gold-covered 'Rudrakha' beads belong to the Ettumannor Mahadeva Temple in the Kottayam district. A devotee donated the chain to the ancient Siva temple in 2006. Discrepancies in the chain adorning the idol of the deity recently came to light</p>.<p>A probe by the internal vigilance wing of the Travancore Devaswom Board that manages the temple found that while the original chain had 81 gold covered 'Rudraksha' beads, only 72 beads were found now. The loss was estimated to be around Rs 1 lakh. </p>.<p>Meanwhile, a parallel police investigation now found that the old chain that weighed 23 grams had been replaced with a new one weighing 20 grams. Gold appraisers who examined the chain found that the existing chain was only around three years old, a police officer told DH. </p>.<p>The police will be quizzing all those who served as the temple's chief priest of the temple from 2006 to unfold the mystery. The said chain was under the custody of the chief priest and was regularly used for adorning the deity, said the police. </p>.<p>The police also suspect that entries were recently made in the temple register of a new chain. A police team led by Kottayan DySP J Santosh Kumar is investigating the case. </p>.<p>The Ettumannor Mahadeva Temple, situated around 10 kilometres from Kottayam, is famous for its mural paintings and 'Ezharaponnana' (seven-and-a-half elephants) - golden statues of eight elephants of which one is only half the size of the other seven.</p>.<p><em><strong>Check out the latest DH videos here:</strong></em></p>
