Kochi: The Kerala High Court has granted permission for the Travancore Devaswom Board to deposit unused gold ornaments stored in the Sabarimala temple and use the interest earned from these deposits for the temple's welfare. Currently, there are 227.824 kg of gold in the temple's possession that are not used for daily rituals or temple purposes.

The Devaswom Board can utilise the gold deposit scheme introduced by the Central Government and the Reserve Bank of India. Under this scheme, the gold that is not used for temple rituals can be deposited, and the interest received from the deposit will be placed in a special account for the temple's use. This initiative will help to generate additional income through interest.

In response to an inquiry from RTI activist MK Haridas, the board stated that the gold ornaments in question cannot be accurately valued due to the inclusion of ornaments with archaic value.

The Executive Officer of the Sabarimala Devaswom added that efforts are already underway to separate and transfer the gold ornaments, excluding those used for daily pujas and antique ornaments, into the gold deposit scheme.

Other temples in Kerala, such as the Kochi and Guruvayur Devaswoms, have already adopted similar gold deposit schemes. Since 2019, Guruvayur Devaswom has earned Rs 13.56 crore in interest from depositing 869.18 kg of gold. Guruvayur Devaswom has deposited gold across four gold deposit schemes at the State Bank of India’s Bullion Branch in Mumbai.