Kerala priest suspended for collecting 'dakshina' using QR code

A temple priest in Kerala was suspended after he was found to be accepting money as 'dakshina' (offering) from devotees using a mobile wallet QR code.

Sateesh Namboothiri, one of the chief priests of the sub-deities at the renowned Chottanikkara Bhagavathy Temple in Ernakulam district was placed under suspension pending enquiry.

Temple sources said that a QR code board of the mobile wallet under Namboothiri's name and mobile phone was recovered from the 'prasadam' distribution counter of the temple.

An official of the temple said that as per the norms, temple priests were not supposed to conduct any pooja by directly accepting cash from devotees. The priests are only supposed to collect 'dakshina' offered by devotees while giving prasadams. It was suspected that Namboothiri used to accept money from devotees using the mobile wallet and conduct poojas for them.

The temple authorities came across this only after some employees happened to notice the QR code board. It is not yet known for how long the priest has been doing this and how much amount has been collected from the devotees.

The Chottanikkara temple, managed by the Cochin Devaswom Board, was recently in the news over unverified reports of a person, supposedly a businessman from Karnataka, offered Rs 526 crore for the temple's development works.

The CDB has ordered a detailed inquiry by an assistant commissioner of the board into the matter.