Real-life 'Temple Devourers'

"Ambalam Vizhungi" is a figurative expression. It means "one who not only swallows the donation box and the idol, but also the entire temple"! Such temple devourers are present in all our public institutions and corporations. However, the phrase "Ambalam Vizhungi" has become a reality as the devaswom officials in their power palaces, the middlemen and sponsors who are always in the presence of Ayyappa, have been revealed to be a gang of thieves who devour the gold plates of the Dwarpalaka sculpture in front of the shrine, the Pratishtha Peetha, the thazhikakudam, and the Vaji Vahana sculpture on top of the flagpole, in the sannidhanam of Ayyappa Swamy, where devotees from all over the world bow down with their souls.

Shocking stories are emerging every day about the massive frauds being perpetrated by the corrupt officials in the Sabarimala sannidhanam for almost a quarter of a century since 1998. In recent days, conflicting reports have emerged, such as whether the gold plates removed from the Dwarapalaka sculptures and taken to Chennai under the pretext of repair were actually just copper, or whether it was recorded in the Devaswom register and Mahasar that what was taken was gold coverings. The fraud stories centred on a middleman named Unnikrishnan Potri, who was known to be the sponsor of many events in Sabarimala, are now looming over the heads of the former Devaswom Board governing committee and the Sabarimala official elite.

The shameful story that Unnikrishnan Potty and his team collected money from the exhibition of the gold-plated doors at the Shasta Temple in Elampally, Kottayam; the temple in Bengaluru; the factory in Ambattur of the company Smart Creations in Chennai, which was entrusted with the gold plating; and the company CEO's house, came to light in the past few days. It is reported that the Thazhikakkudam and the Vaji Vahana sculpture, which were removed earlier under the pretext of maintenance, were replaced by fake structures. The Devaswom Vigilance, which examined the temple's register dating back more than a quarter of a century and the Mahasar reports prepared when valuables are taken out, has now discovered shocking information.

What is surprising is that, despite all this, the Devaswom has taken the position that there is no need for any other investigation at the moment other than the one currently being conducted under the supervision of the High Court. Devaswom has said that it will cooperate with the court's investigation. What a great blessing! In any case, any matter related to Sabarimala is not only the personal matter of Malayalis, but of all Ayyappa devotees around the world. Only a fair investigation under the supervision of the court can examine the facts found by the vigilance and bring those responsible for each of them, no matter how influential they are, before the law and the general public. There is a belief that if those who have worn the mala to go on the Sabarimala pilgrimage lie, they will be caught by a tiger on the forest path to Sannidhanam! Will Lord Ayyappa himself incarnate, riding on the tiger's back, to catch those who are stealing from the deity?