Kerala High Court Orders Vigilance Probe into Gold Weight of Sabarimala Idols
The Kerala High Court has ordered a vigilance investigation into the reported reduction in the weight of gold-plated copper plates adorning the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols at the Sabarimala temple. The order came after discrepancies were found in the records maintained by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which administers the shrine. Bench’s Directions A division bench of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice K.V. Jayakumar directed the Chief Vigilance and Security Officer (Superintendent of Police) to undertake a comprehensive probe into the matter. The officer has been instructed to submit a detailed and reasoned report within three weeks . The Court also directed the Travancore Devaswom Board to extend full cooperation in the investigation. Weight Discrepancy in Gold-Plated Plates According to temple records, the gold-plated copper sheets of the Dwarapalaka idols weighed 42.8 kilograms when they were last removed in 2019 for re-plating. However, when ...