Ayyappa's gold stolen? Statements of Devaswom Board, Unnikrishnan proven false

PATHANAMHITTA: The statements made by the Devaswom Board and Unnikrishnan Potty regarding the removal of the Dwarapalaka sculpture panels at the Sabarimala Sannidhanam for repair have been proven false. Their claims collapsed after Advocate K.B. Pradeep, owner of the Chennai-based firm Smart Creations, revealed that what had been brought from Sabarimala to his factory in 2019 for gold plating were not the original panels, but newly made copper panels of the Dwarapalaka sculpture.

In 1999, the Dwarapalaka sculptures were covered with thin gold foils on copper sheets, sponsored by businessman Vijay Mallya. It has now become clear that this gold has completely disappeared. The owner of Smart Creations stated that their company never accepts anything for repair that was not originally made by them, and that gold plating was done only because new copper panels were provided. The gold foils donated by Mallya had earlier been pasted onto the copper sheets at the Sannidhanam itself, just like sticking decorative paper. In 2019, the panels of the sculpture were dismantled and brought to Chennai only after 39 days.

By recording them only as “copper panels” in the Devaswom’s official documents, the stage was set for this alleged cover-up. This has strengthened suspicions that the Board itself was involved in the disappearance of the gold. It is clear this was not just an accounting error, as the Board claims.

In 2021, the gold-plated pedestal of the Dwarapalaka sculptures lost its shine and got damaged. Another pedestal was then made and donated to the Sannidhanam by Unnikrishnan Potty. Since this pedestal was larger in size, it was reportedly shifted to the strong room at that time, according to then Devaswom Board President A. Padmakumar.

In 2023, the Tantri wrote a letter demanding repairs, pointing out that the gold-plated panels of the Dwarapalaka sculpture had lost their colour and suffered damage. In 2024, Unnikrishnan Potty sent an email to the Devaswom Board offering to gold plate the sculptures. Based on this, on September 7, 2025, the panels of the sculptures were removed and sent to the factory in Chennai.

Proof of gold plating
1. There is evidence that the Dwarapalaka sculptures near the Sreekovil at Sabarimala were gold-plated in 1999. Although the mahazar (official report) or register has not been found, a letter sent by the Devaswom Board at that time to the Assistant Executive Engineer (Maintenance) and Devaswom Vigilance, asking them to oversee the gold plating, still exists.

2. When the dismantled panels were brought back after gold plating, their weight had reduced by 4 kilograms. There is no proper record explaining how this happened.