In a significant development on Saturday, October 4, 2025, Kerala’s Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition formally demanded a comprehensive Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry, overseen by the High Court, into the alarming allegations of gold-plated copper foils being misappropriated from the sacred Sabarimala temple. These foils adorned the temple’s elaborate stone carvings and sculptures.
According to Opposition Leader V.D. Satheesan, the gilded coverings were repeatedly taken off the temple’s structures for supposed repairs and refurbishment between 2019 and 2025. These precious artifacts were then transported to workshops in Hyderabad and Chennai. Satheesan emphasized that due to the interstate nature of the alleged crimes, the matter falls outside the investigative capacity of the Kerala Police, necessitating a central agency’s involvement.
Mr. Satheesan highlighted that the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) had entrusted a former temple helper, Unnikrishnan Potty, with the task of removing these gold coverings – originally donated by businessman Vijay Mallya in 1999 – for repairs at a Chennai workshop.
The plot thickened when the Chennai workshop management recently revealed that the panels submitted by Mr. Potty for restoration, a staggering four months after he received them, were found to be composed entirely of ‘pure copper,’ not gold-plated material.
Adding to the concerns, an internal audit conducted by the TDB’s Vigilance wing in 2019 had already flagged significant weight discrepancies between the original gilded panels and those returned following previous repair works.
Serious allegations have surfaced, including claims that Mr. Potty was seen transporting these sacred objects to the residences of influential individuals for private worship. The Opposition leader found Mr. Potty’s inability to provide a satisfactory explanation for keeping the plaques in his personal custody for four months, and what transpired during that time, highly suspicious.
For Ayyappa devotees, the Sabarimala temple artifacts hold immeasurable emotional and spiritual value. Satheesan voiced their deep concern that the original, highly sacred gold-plated panels might have been covertly replaced with replicas made of a different metal, with the authentic ones potentially stolen for their inherent religious significance.
Further confounding the situation, the TDB’s inexplicable classification of panels slated for repair in 2019 as ‘pure copper’ raises a critical question: what became of the original gold coverings that were installed back in 1999?
Intriguingly, Mr. Satheesan stated that Mr. Potty possesses a TDB certification from 2010, which identifies the temple artifacts handed over to him as being made exclusively of copper, with no gold content whatsoever.
Even more perplexing is that despite the TDB’s own Vigilance wing expressing skepticism in 2019 regarding the weight discrepancies and the metallic composition of the returned artifacts, the Sabarimala Devaswom once again hired Mr. Potty for the same repair work at the Chennai workshop.
The UDF has declared its intention to expose the ‘government’s deceit’ surrounding this issue, promising to voice their concerns both in the State Assembly and through public protests on Monday, October 6, 2025.