How the Devaswom Board failed Lord Ayyappa again

The Kerala High Court’s latest observations on the Sabarimala gold theft case have put the current Devaswom Board officials in a difficult position. The court noted that the same kind of lapse that led to the 2019 gold theft had been repeated in 2025. The person who was given the responsibility of gold-plating the temple ornaments in 2019, Unnikrishnan Potty, was appointed for the same work again in 2025. The court pointed out that this was done on the instruction of the current Devaswom Board, and directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe whether officials at all levels - from top to bottom - were part of a larger conspiracy behind the theft. The directive was issued by a division bench comprising Justice V Raja Vijayaraghavan and Justice KV Jayakumar.

At present, the Devaswom Board President is PS Prasanth, who joined the CPM after working for many years with the Congress. Rajilal is the Thiruvabharanam Commissioner. The issue was brought before the court by Special Commissioner R Jayakrishnan. In 2025, the Thiruvabharanam Commissioner had initially objected to giving the repair work to Unnikrishnan Potty and had suggested that the traditional method of repair be followed at the Sannidhanam. However, after the intervention of the current president, the commissioner changed his stand, met with Potty, and later agreed to hand over the gold plates to him. In 2024, both the Thiruvabharanam Commissioner and the Devaswom Board smith had noted that the gold plating on the temple’s idols and pedestals had faded. Normally, such work should have been tendered out and carried out only after consulting experts. Instead, the same person from the 2019 case was entrusted with the work again in 2025.

The court observed that there was no difference between the actions that led to the 2019 gold theft and those taken now. As a result, the present board may also have to face trial for repeating the same mistake. The Devaswom Bench has ordered the seizure of the board’s meeting minutes for investigation. From the court’s latest comments, it appears that both past and present board members are birds of a feather when it came to the gold theft issue. Even under court supervision, a conspiracy was carried out to misappropriate the temple’s gold. Those involved - whether old or new - will now have to face investigation. The court also made a strong remark that the “magical realism” of turning gold into copper should never again happen at Sabarimala. Everything offered to Lord Ayyappa belongs to him, and anyone misusing temple property is deceiving both the devotees and the deity himself.

Although the current and former Devaswom Board presidents have told the media that all actions were taken properly, records show serious lapses. In 2019, when Unnikrishnan Potty was given the gold-plating work for the Dwarapalaka idols and pedestals, no proper documentation or records were made. Even though the board was aware that the gold plates could have been replaced with fake ones, they kept silent. The court has now expressed serious doubt about whether the same gold-plated panels that were taken were actually returned. Given these developments, the government should reconsider the practice of appointing politically active individuals to key positions in the Devaswom Board.