Kasaragod: After raising the alleged theft of gold‑clad idols and artefacts from Sabarimala in the Assembly and disrupting proceedings for four days, the Opposition Congress is taking the issue to the public. On Tuesday, the party launched its Viswasa Samrakshana Yatra (Faith Protection March) from Kasaragod to Pandalam, the birthplace of Lord Ayyappa, reiterating its claim that the LDF government, in collusion with Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) officials and a priest‑turned‑businessman, had made copper replicas of the gold‑clad Dwarapalakas (guardian idols) and their pedestals while allegedly selling the original idols to wealthy individuals.

The Kerala High Court, overseeing the special investigation team, has also flagged the same suspicion, that the original gold cladding may have been sold while copper replicas, plated with gold, were returned to the temple. The yatra is being led by senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan. The first phase of the march will end on November 18.

Flagging off the yatra, Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan reiterated his allegation raised in the Assembly, that the theft at Sabarimala is not about scrapping gold from the idol, but it is about selling the original gold-cladded guardian idols of the temple to millionaires. The theft has struck at the very faith of devotees in those managing the temple, he said. "This yatra is for protecting the faith of millions of devotees who are hurt and angered by what has been happening at Sabarimala,” Satheesan said, addressing a large crowd at the flag-off venue in Kanhangad.

According to Satheesan, the alleged fraud dates back to 2019, when the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) decided to gold-plate the already gold-cladded Dwarapalakas on either side of the sanctum sanctorum, along with their pedestals, the door, side frames and lintel of the shrine.

Back in 1999, UB Group, then controlled by Vijay Mallya, had donated 30.291 kg of gold to cover parts of the main temple, including the Dwarapalakas, doors, panel and lintel around the sanctum sanctorum. The group told the Devaswom authorities that 1.564 kg of gold was used for the Dwarapalakas' cladding, with a 40-year warranty expiring in 2039. "Yet, in 2019, they claimed the plating had dulled and decided it needed re-gilding," Satheesan said.

As per temple protocol, such works require permission from the Division Bench of the Kerala High Court, which monitors Sabarimala, and must be executed inside the main temple complex. However, neither guideline was followed.

The TDB identified Unnikrishnan Potty, a priest-turned-businessman based in Bengaluru, as the new sponsor and gave him the gold-clad items. "But they did a smart thing. They wrote in the evidence register (Mahazhar) that the items were of copper," he said. "That's why he has no fear when he comes before the media."

Satheesan said he asked the then Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran, who bought the idols, because he would know. "He responded by sending a legal notice for defamation. He is the same person who did not file a defamation suit when Swapna Suresh raised an allegation against him," said the Leader of the Opposition. "But by the time Kadakampally's defamation suit against me comes to the court, the truth will be out," he said.

The missing guardian idols
The gold claddings taken from Sabarimala in July 2019 took 39 days to reach Smart Creations in Chennai, where it was to be gold-plated. "I suspect that moulds were made during this period to create copper replicas," Satheesan said.

The Opposition leader further alleged that some of these sacred items might have been purchased by wealthy devotees from Tamil Nadu or Telangana, unaware that they were buying stolen artefacts.

Ettumanoor connection
Satheesan alleged that the same group was behind another scandal at the Mahadeva Temple in Ettumanoor, the home constituency of Devaswom minister V N Vasavan. He said that a rudraksha chain of 81 gold-coated beads was replaced with a new one having only 72 beads in 2021.

To be sure, TDB Vigilance Officer P V Joy found that a person, who had served as the temple's head priest till June 2021, was the sole accused. Satheesan said that the "same gang" that allegedly stole from Sabarimala was behind the Ettumanoor theft. He also said that the gang tried to take away the seven-and-a-half golden elephants, the Ezhara Ponnana, but devotees ringed the temple and stopped them.

On October 5, while responding to the allegation, Minister Vasavan went back to 1981, when the gold idol of the temple was stolen from the sanctum sanctorum. Investigation led to a habitual thief named Stephan from Parassala. Vasavan said Stephan was affiliated with the Congress trade union INTUC.

Devotion in the time of election
Satheesan said the government has looted the Sabarimala temple, just as it has looted cooperative banks. But as the elections are nearing, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who rooted for women's entry in Sabarimala, has now turned a devotee and even organised a Global Ayyappa summit.

Muraleedharan said the Congress boycotted the event because the Chief Minister had neither apologised for hurting devotees’ sentiments nor withdrawn the cases against Congress and NSS workers who had protested the government’s decision, and also failed to retract the affidavit filed in the Supreme Court supporting the entry of young women into the temple. He added that the yatra he was leading would go up to Chengannur in vehicles and then walk from there to reach Pandalam on November 18.