Taking gold plated sheets to Chennai; HC to consider matter again today

CHENNAI: The Kerala High Court will consider again the suo motu case registered in connection with the removal of the gold-plated sheets on the Dwarapalaka idols in Sabarimala today. The case is being considered by the Devaswom bench comprising Justices V Raja, Vijayaraghavan and K V Jayakumar.

The high court's interim order was to bring back the gold sheets. The Travancore Devaswom Board will inform the high court that it is impossible to return the gold plating from Chennai now as the electroplating has already started.

Electroplating, the chemical process of coating the gold, cannot be done at the Sannidhanam and that is why it was taken to Chennai. The board will inform the high court that the gold plating was taken to Chennai for repair works as per the convenience of the sponsored person.

The gold plating was donated by a Malayali devotee named Unnikrishnan from Bengaluru. It was built and provided by a company called Smart Creations in Chennai in 2019. It had a warranty of 40 years.

When devotees threw coins onto the sopanam, the gold plating on these idols was damaged. The Thantris had constantly requested it to be fixed. The board took the decision considering this demand, which has been raised since 2023. The Thiruvabharanam Commissioner was tasked with examining the damage and preparing an estimate. It was determined that sixteen grams of gold was sufficient.