Thiruvananthapuram: A gold crown offered to Lord Ayyappa at the Sabarimala temple in 2012 has reportedly gone missing, with a fake crown found in its place during an ongoing stock verification exercise.
The missing crown, which was reportedly submitted by a group of chartered accountants from Tamil Nadu, weighed 445.78 grams and contained 55.72 grams of gold. It was studded with precious stones and had been used to adorn the idol before being transferred to the temple’s strong room.
Fake crown found during stock verification
The discrepancy came to light during a stock verification being conducted at the Sabarimala storeroom and the strong room at Aranmula. The original crown has reportedly been replaced with a fake one weighing only around 240 grams.
The verification exercise is being conducted under the supervision of High Court-appointed amicus curiae Justice KT Sankaran. Officials are examining the records and physical stock of valuable offerings kept at the temple and the Aranmula strong room.
The crown was reportedly offered at the Sabarimala temple in August 2012. It was adorned on the idol on Chingam 1, the first day of the Malayalam month of Chingam, following which it was moved to the strong room as per the established procedure.
Four-sovereign gold chain also missing
The stock verification has also reportedly detected the disappearance of a gold chain weighing four sovereigns from the Aranmula strong room.
The findings have raised questions about the handling and accounting of high-value offerings at the temple. Such valuables are required to be recorded at the shrine before being shifted to the storeroom and subsequently transferred to the Aranmula strong room.
According to the existing procedure, high-value donations offered by devotees are entered in the temple’s record books. After the necessary documentation, the valuables are supposed to be moved to the designated strong room at Aranmula for safekeeping.
The discovery of a substitute crown instead of the original has therefore prompted scrutiny of the records, movement of valuables and security procedures followed over the years.
TDB president expresses concern
Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president K Jayakumar said that the reported disappearance of the crown was shocking if confirmed.
Jayakumar said he came to know about the matter through media reports and noted that valuables offered at Sabarimala are supposed to be kept in the Aranmula strong room.
He also expressed concern over what he described as systemic flaws in the administration and handling of valuables at the temple.
The ongoing verification is expected to establish the exact nature of the discrepancies and determine how the original crown and other valuables went missing. Further details are likely to emerge after the verification of the temple’s records and stock is completed.