Panchaloha scam in the name of Lord Ayyappa; High Court halts fundraising

KOCHI: The High Court has prohibited a private individual from collecting funds by falsely claiming he had received permission to install a panchaloha (five-metal) idol of Lord Ayyappa at Sabarimala. The court clarified that no one has been granted approval to place an idol within the temple premises, and thus, fundraising in the name of such a claim is not permissible. The court also directed the Travancore Devaswom Board to publicly declare this clarification on the Virtual Queue platform. The Devaswom Bench—comprising Justice Anil K. Narendran and Justice S. Murali Krishnan—is considering this matter as a suo motu petition based on the report of the Sabarimala Special Commissioner.

During the hearing, the court sought a detailed explanation from the Executive Officer of Sabarimala Temple. The officer informed the court that although the Devaswom Board Secretary had issued a letter on the 4th seeking assistance for installing a panchaloha idol without disrupting temple customs, there was no directive permitting any fundraising activity. The Board’s counsel, G. Biju, confirmed that no official approval had been granted for installing the idol. The court asked for related documents to be submitted and will review the case again today.

Fundraising based on false claims
Dr. E.K. Sahadevan, Chairman of Lotus Multi-Specialty Hospital in Erode, Tamil Nadu, allegedly initiated a fundraising campaign claiming that he had received permission from the Kerala government and the Devaswom Board to install the idol in the Sabarimala temple premises. He even distributed printed notices in Tamil with QR codes for donations. He claimed that he had received permission to install a two-foot-tall, 108-kg panchaloha idol worth Rs 9 lakh, which would be placed for worship at Sabarimala.

Threat to sanctity of the temple
According to the Special Commissioner’s report, the temple Thantri clarified that such an installation would compromise the sanctity (divyatva) of the existing Ayyappa idol. The Thantri also stated that he had not been informed of any such decision. Taking this into account, the court recorded the issue and issued a notice to the Chairman of Lotus Hospital.