Sabarimala Conspiracy

Thiruvananthapuram

Kerala Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan and the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) on Monday alleged a possible conspiracy behind the missing gold-coated peedam of the Dwarapalaka idols at Sabarimala, which was later recovered from the residence of a sponsor’s relative.

Vasavan accused sponsor Unnikrishnan Potty of staging a drama by hiding the peedam and then claiming it was missing from TDB custody. It appears that after hiding the peedam, Potty raised a missing allegation and created a drama. Naturally, we have to suspect whether there is a conspiracy, he said, adding that further action would follow Kerala High Court directions.

The issue surfaced after the High Court ordered a probe into the reduced weight of the gold-clad copper plates of the Dwarapalakas. Potty then revealed he had sponsored a gold-plated pedestal in 2019 during plating work, which he claimed was missing. A TDB vigilance team, led by SP Sunil Kumar, traced the peedam to one of Potty’s relative’s houses in Venjaramoodu.

TDB president P S Prasanth welcomed the recovery but alleged that Potty deliberately misled the public to tarnish the Global Ayyappa Sangamam. He lied knowing it was in his custody. Based on his claim, the opposition even branded me a thief. This seems part of a conspiracy to take the shine off the Sangamam, Prasanth said.

Potty, based in Bengaluru, denied any wrongdoing. He said he was unaware that the peedam was with his worker Vasudevan in Kottayam and shifted it to a relative’s house only after media reports about the missing pedestal.

This episode has raised questions about accountability, while TDB insists its actions were transparent, and a detailed investigation is underway.