Kerala’s main opposition, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), is calling for the immediate resignations of Devaswom Minister V.N. Vasavan and Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president P.S. Prasanth. The UDF alleges that these officials enabled private brokers and profiteers to exploit the sacred Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, allowing the ‘misappropriation’ of valuable gold-plated copper panels from ancient stone carvings and sculptures.
Opposition Leader V.D. Satheesan further implicated former Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran and previous TDB president A. Padmakumar, stating they too bear responsibility for fostering a culture of “corruption and criminality” within the temple administration during their tenure.
According to Mr. Satheesan, between 2019 and 2025, the TDB permitted Unnikrishnan Potti, a former temple assistant, to take these precious gilded coverings from the temple. The stated purpose was for repairs and refurbishment at workshops located in Hyderabad and Chennai.
However, a TDB Vigilance investigation in 2019, conducted during the oversight of Mr. Surendran and Mr. Padmakumar, reportedly found a substantial weight difference between the original panels and those returned after this alleged restoration.
Despite these glaring warnings from the TDB Vigilance in 2019, Mr. Vasavan and Mr. Prasanth reportedly ignored them. Instead, they again engaged Mr. Potti in 2025 to move even more gold-plated panels out of the temple for another overhaul.
“There’s compelling public evidence suggesting Mr. Potti transported these sacred artifacts to the homes of influential individuals for private worship,” Mr. Satheesan claimed. “His inability to provide a satisfactory explanation for holding the gilded plaques for four months, and what occurred during that time, is highly suspicious. Furthermore, the TDB recovered gold panels, originally donated to Sabarimala, from his sister’s residence in Thiruvananthapuram.”
Mr. Satheesan emphasized the profound emotional and religious significance of the Sabarimala temple artifacts for Ayyappa devotees. He voiced concerns that the original gilded panels, due to their immense value, might have been replaced with replicas made of different metals. The government, he asserted, has a responsibility to provide a clear explanation to the devotees.
Adding to the intrigue, Mr. Satheesan highlighted the TDB’s “perplexing classification” of the panels sent for repair in 2019 as pure copper. This raises critical questions about the fate of the original gold coverings, which were reportedly installed in 1999 at the instruction of businessman Vijay Mallya.
Workshops that undertook the restoration of the panels in both 2019 and 2025, under Mr. Potti’s supervision, have reportedly confirmed that the materials provided to them were pure copper, containing no gold.
“Mr. Potti asserts that the TDB certified the metal he received as pure copper,” Mr. Satheesan stated, adding, “Only a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry, overseen by the High Court, can uncover the full truth.”
In a related development, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader P.K. Krishnadas announced that thousands of Ayyappa devotees plan to encircle Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s official residence on Tuesday, escalating their demand for a thorough CBI investigation into the matter.