THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, July 2: The Kerala High Court has permitted the Travancore Dewaswom Board to proceed with the work of gold-plating the roof of the famous Sabarimala shrine. The work is being undertaken by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, Chairman of the UB Group. The cost of the project will be around Rs 1.75 crore and the task had been entrusted to JNR Jewellers, Chennai. The Division Bench of the High Court was disposing of an annonymous complaint questioning the TDB's decision to permit an industrialist to undertake the project. The complainant had maintained that a gold-plated Sreekovil would be improper in the context of the fact that the presiding deity, Lord Ayyappa, was an ascetic. The complaint had also said there would be security problems.
