Thiruvananthapuram: The Devaswom Vigilance has summoned Unnikrishnan Potty for questioning in connection with the controversy surrounding the gold-plating of the ‘Dwarapalaka’ idols at the entrance of the sanctum sanctorum in the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa Temple. He has been asked to appear at the Vigilance office in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday.

The case has drawn further scrutiny following discrepancies in the explanations given by Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) officials, the absence of proper records regarding the idols, and vague statements from Potty, who sponsored the gold-plating work.

Meanwhile, the state government is considering a proposal to transfer the investigation to the Crime Branch. Currently, the Devaswom’s Vigilance wing is conducting a probe, based on a court directive.

The court has ordered an inquiry into the gold-plating, originally carried out in 1998 and the work under the sponsorship of Potty in 2019. The vigilance will also investigate whether funds were collected from others by the sponsor.

Incidentally, in July this year, a complaint was raised over the unauthorised collection of funds. However, a probe into the matter was initiated only after controversy erupted over the gold-plating of the panels covering the idols.

As per the TDB, the panels were handed over to Potty based on his assurance that they had a warranty of 40 years, and the institution in Chennai, which had carried out gold-plating, would repair the defects.

Were the panels copper or gold?
The biggest mystery is over whether the panels covering the Dwarapalaka idols, which were handed over to Potty for gold-plating, were made of copper or gold.

In 1998, Vijay Mallya, then chairman of the UB Group, had covered the entire sanctum sanctorum of the Sabarimala temple, including the Dwarapalaka idols, with gold. However, in a statement to the Devaswom Vigilance, Potty claimed he was given 14 copper panels in 2019 for covering them with gold. It has also come to light that TDB officials did not verify the items before handing them over to him.

Another suspicious matter is the entry in the devaswom ‘mahassar’ (records) that the panels removed from the Dwarapalaka idols for repairs in 2019 were made of copper. The records also show that the panels, which weighed 42.8 kg when handed over to Potty, had lost 4.41 kg when they were returned after repairs.

Similarly, incidents related to the panels between 1998 and 2019 are also unknown.

K Ananthagopan, the former president of the TDB, said that taking devaswom's possessions outside the temple premises is a violation of the rules. "The devaswom law clearly states that any maintenance work is to be carried out at the temple itself," he said. However, he refused to comment on whether the Dwarapalaka idols were plated with gold.

Meanwhile, current TDB president P S Prasanth said that the argument that the devaswom manual prohibits taking away items from the Sannidhanam (temple) for repairs is not based on facts. "The ‘kodimaram’ (flagstaff) at Sabarimala was taken five times to Chennai for plating after I took over as president," he said.

At the same time, Potty said that he would reveal everything he knew on the gold-plating issue only before the court.

Earlier, Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan accused Potty of being behind the entire conspiracy related to the gold-plating issue. He added that the truth would come out through the ongoing investigation.