Sabarimala Gold Looting

S K

If you are a devotee of Lord Ayyappa you should feel hurt when you hear the latest developments in Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala, Kerala. If you do not believe in man-made-gods, as the communists do, you are in for a surprise. The communist ministry and their temple officals and staff are under the scanner of investigators for looting the golden assets of the Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala.

The Sabarimala gold theft row has snowballed into a major political and religious controversy in Kerala, exposing alleged irregularities in the gold plating of the Dwarapalaka idols at the revered Sabarimala Ayyappa temple.

The golden assets of the temple were taken for a routine repair sometime back in 2019. And they were returned back to the Ayyappa temple only after 39 days.The gold-clad door panels associated with the Dwarapalaka idols - showing that the pieces were removed in July 2019, travelled across southern India for more than a month and returned with a measurable loss of its gold metal. When the door panles were finally returned, it is found that there was a loss of around 4.54 kg of gold. What happened to the gold that was missing from the materials? Who stole the gold and when? What is the role of the Travancore Devaswom Baord officials or the minister(s) who is in charge of the Devaswom Board in this incident? An investigation is underway to nab the culprits in this Sabarimala gold theft incident.

God-fearing Hindus and some political factions are of the opinion that the God will punish those who steal the offerings the pilgrims make at the temple. Another group of public is of the opinion that the ruling government is behind the looting of the gold and selling it to create an income to the leaking exchequer. Whatever, the pilgrims will continue to visit Sabarimala and make their offerings.

Looting of Devaswom Board controlled temples is not a single incident. It is likely that many more temples might come up with similar issues in the near future.