Extra Sabarimala Dwarapalaka peedam was located in the sponsor's relative's home.
When Potti informed the media that the peedam was missing after the Global Ayyappa Sangamam, he caused a stir.
.jpg "Sabarimala temple") |
| Sabarimala temple dwarapalaka |
PATHANAMTHITTA: Six years after going missing, the peedam (pedestal) of the dwarapalaka idols of Sabarimala temple from Thiruvananthapuram has been found by the Travancore Devaswom Board's (TDB) vigilance wing, officials announced on Sunday.
At Pulimathu in Venjaramoodu on Saturday, a team headed by TDB vigilance and security SP Sunil Kumar V located the peedam at the home of a relative of Unnikrishnan Potti, who had funded the gold plating of the pedestal and idols.
When Potti informed the media that the peedam was missing after the Global Ayyappa Sangamam, he caused a stir.
As a result, the Kerala High Court mandated the "reduction" in the plates' weight as well as an investigation by the TDB's vigilance wing.
When discoloration was discovered in 2019, the sponsor requested authorization to have the pedestal moved for upkeep. He withdrew it once more after the work because it did not sit well with the idols. It was later returned and stored in the strongroom, he said. However, despite a recent thorough check, it was not discovered there," a senior police officer told TNIE.
We discovered during interrogation that it had been stored in one of his assistants' homes. The aide, who had kept the gold-plated dwarapalaka idols carelessly, became alarmed and went to Potti when news of their disappearance broke. It was then moved to a relative's home, the officer said.
Prasanth, the head of TDB, calls conspiracies regrettable.
"He could have fixed it if it was an inadvertent error," the police official stated. In any of his appearances before the Kerala High Court, he could have acknowledged it. A number of officials were under a great deal of pressure because of the missing case.
The existence of such a peedam was recently discovered when the HC ordered an investigation after observing a decrease in the weight of the idols' copper plates covered in gold. When the dwarapalaka idols' plates were taken out and taken for plating work in 2019, Potti then disclosed that he had also sponsored a gold-plated peedam.
The recovered peedam has been moved to Sabarimala, according to officials, and a thorough report will be submitted to the HC on Monday.
The recovery was also confirmed by TDB President P S Prasanth, who stated that additional information could not be disclosed because the case is still pending. He said that plots to discredit the TDB were regrettable.
"A mistake, but not intentional"
One of his assistants took the peedam for maintenance, Unnikrishnan Potti told TNIE. The aide kept the peedam at his home during the height of COVID-19. I forgot about it because the TDB didn't request it. I asked my assistant to mail the board stating that we would add gold to other ancient parts of the deity in the strongroom when the maintenance work came up in 2024.
We were both unaware that the pedestal was still present. My aide, a father of two girls, became concerned that he might be charged with theft after the court ruled against the board over the reduction of gold in the dwarapalaka and media reports ensued. He even thought about ending his life. I kept the idol to keep him safe. It was an error, but it wasn't intentional," he said.
