Amid row, Sabarimala temple opened for poojas; refurbished golden plates placed on sculptures | VIDEO

Sabarimala: Amid the ongoing controversy over the gold plating row, Sabarimala temple doors were opened on Friday at 4 pm—an hour earlier than usual—for the Thulamasam poojas to allow reinstallation of the newly refurbished golden plates on the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) sculptures.

The plates had been sent to Chennai Smart Creations for restoration on September 7 and returned to the temple on September 21. The restoration work, taking over an hour, involved carefully reattaching the gold plates after detailed maintenance. Kept under strict security in the temple strong room, the plates were removed only after a full inventory. Following ritual procedures, the gold-plated pedestal was placed first, followed by the plates themselves.

The installation attracted attention due to the controversy surrounding Sabarimala’s gold plating. The chief priest and head priest, along with Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) President, oversaw the procedure at the temple.

What is the Sabarimala gold plating row?

The row centres on the alleged misappropriation of around two kilograms of gold from the Dwarapalaka idol plates in 2019. Unnikrishnan Potti, a former assistant to the temple priest, is accused of removing gold during electroplating and using only a fraction for re-plating. The plates were reportedly taken to multiple locations—including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Chennai—in violation of temple tradition.

The SIT, which arrested Potti on Thursday fearing he might abscond, said the case involves 10 individuals and legal proceedings under IPC Sections 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 466 (forgery of public documents), and 467 (forgery of valuable security).

"With the help of Smart Creations, the gold was removed from the gold-clad copper plates and illegally retrieved. To conceal this, only 394.9 grams of gold were replated. Later, these plates were displayed at various places against temple tradition before being returned to Sabarimala," the report stated.