THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) will approach the High Court seeking a probe against Unnikrishnan Potty who made the controversial allegation of missing pedestals at Sabarimala temple.
The investigation will help to bust the mystery behind the whole incident and allay devotees’ concerns, according to the board.
“Potty’s missing allegation and the recovery of the pedestal from his possession points to a conspiracy. We firmly believe that the intention was to take the sheen off the Global Ayyappa Conclave. As the matter is being considered by the High Court, we will approach the court to order an investigation by a competent agency,” Prasanth told TNIE. According to Prasanth, the board followed all procedures while handing over the gold-clad panels for repair recently.
“The repair followed a letter from the temple thantri citing the damages to the panels. Subsequently, it was handed over to the agency which sponsored it. It was handed over after making an entry in the records. The sponsor had promised a 40 years warranty at the time of submission,” he said.
According to Prasanth, officers concerned, Thiruvabharanam commissioner, executive officer and vigilance officer were present and the process was videographed.
“Though it resulted in a controversy, the court did not find fault with it. Or else it would not have permitted us to proceed with related renovation works at the sanctum,” he said. The only lapse, according to Prasanth, was the failure to inform the court-appointed special commissioner.
The board does not have any role in the controversial second pedestal issue raised by Potty. “We are unaware of the second pedestal he speaks about. It was never submitted to the temple. If so, it would have been recorded in the temple register. Normally, such donations will be entered in the register and will be kept in the strong room at the shrine or the one at Aranmula,” he says.
According to Prasanth, there were officer-level lapses in the 2019 repair of the gold panels.