Two months after the Kerala High Court ordered a detailed probe into alleged malpractices involving the gold and valuables of the Sabarimala Temple, the special investigation team (SIT) tasked with the probe reported that gold is missing from more temple artefacts.
While the SIT initially reported two cases regarding missing gold from the “dwarapalaka” idols and the door frames of the temple’s sanctum sanctorum to the court, it has now stated in a report submitted to the vigilance court in Kollam that the scandal is not limited to two artefacts.
Here is how the irregularities were detected and what has been uncovered in the probe thus far.
First, how did the irregularities come to light?
In 1999, the Travancore Devaswom Board, the autonomous body that administers 1,250-odd temples in southern Kerala, initiated an exercise to repair the gold-clad Dwarapalakas at the entrance. Then-UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya sponsored 30 kg of gold. According to an expert involved in this process, five kilograms of gold were used to cover the Dwarapalaka idols alone, and the remaining was used to plate other features of the temple with gold.
Twenty years later, one Unnikrishnan Potty secured the TDB’s approval to sponsor the gold-plating of the temple’s idols and valuables at his own expense. However, the handover document made no mention of the existing gold covering installed in 1999 and described the handed over items as bearing “copper plates”. He returned the valuables to the temple 39 days later, but the consignment shipped from Chennai had an unexplained loss of 4.54 kg. The TDB reportedly chose to overlook this and entrusted him with the gold-replating project this year.
The court found additional irregularities in the 2025 process. Potty had suggested to the TDB that electroplating is better than traditional goldplating, claiming it requires only a minimal quantity of gold. The commissioner in charge of sacred ornaments initially disagreed with this claim, favouring the traditional process, and noting in July that Smart Creations was not equipped to remove the existing gold plates. However, he changed his stance a month later after consulting with Potty, and recommended electroplating instead.
The court also noted that the board had violated its manual, which requires that such repair works be carried out at the temple itself. Additionally, when the TDB handed over the items to Potty for transport to Chennai, the vigilance officer was not present.
Why did the High Court intervene?
On September 9, the Sabarimala Special Commissioner informed the division bench of the High Court that the gold-plated copper coverings of the Dwarapalaka idols had been removed without prior notice. The items were reportedly sent to Chennai for maintenance, breaking away from the usual practice of carrying out repairs at the temple premises itself under strict supervision.
This violated explicit directions issued by the court in 2023 when repairs to ornaments on Lord Ayyappa’s idol were undertaken without informing the Special Commissioner. The court had then instructed that prior intimation of any such activities must be given to the Special Commissioner.
In 2019, Chennai-based jewellery firm Smart Creations undertook the gold plating of the Dwarapalaka idols, with a 40-year warranty. Following defects in the plating six years on, the TDB returned the valuables to the same company for repairs, with their costs covered by Potty.
On September 9, the court questioned the rationale behind sending the valuables to Smart Creations and ordered that the repairs be halted and the items be returned to the temple immediately. As the probe continued, revelations about past gold plating work and unexplained losses came to light.
What has the SIT now found?
The SIT report said that gold is missing from seven copper plates at the Prabha Mandalam of the temple, which covers the idols of Siva and Vyali roopam, an architectural and symbolic element found as a sculpted motif on the “sopanam” or the steps leading to the sanctum. It also found that the gold has been separated using a chemical mixture at Smart Creations in Chennai, and is currently in the possession of Bellary-based jeweller Govardhan Roddam.
The SIT has sought the custody of three accused – Unnikrishnan Potty, Govardhan Roddam, and Pankaj Bhandari of Smart Creations, Chennai, who are among the ten arrested persons.
The SIT also reported to the court that they have sought the technical assistance of VSSC-Thiruvananthapuram, a centre of ISRO, to ascertain the exact quantity of gold-plating material on various artefacts at the temple. The VSSC scientists will collect samples from the gold-covered copper plates, said the report.
The SIT has so far arrested ten persons, including three CPI(M) leaders, including former party legislator A Padmakumar. Last week, the SIT questioned former minister Kadakampally Surendran, who was the Devaswom minister in 2019 when the alleged theft at the temple took place.
Devotees thronging the Sabarimala Temple for the annual 'mandala kalam' pilgrimage in December 2025 (Sabarimala Dharma Sastha Temple) 
Share
