Kochi: With Assembly polls coming soon, Kerala High Court’s direction to probe Sabarimala temple management from 1997 to 2025 has put the Congress in soup, media reports said.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the gold robbery at Sabarimala temple will probe controversy surrounding replacement of the temple’s flagpole in 2017 when Congress controlled Sabarimala management.
Late Congress leader Prayar Gopalakrishnan was the president of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) and Ajay Tharayil of Congress a member.
The replacement of the flagpole on the pretext of its base getting damaged in 2017 had turned controversial then.
Prayar and Ajay Tharayil handing over the ‘vaji vahanam’ (horse effigy) to Thantri Kantararu Rajeevaru without any records has also put them under suspicion.
The SIT recovered the ‘vaji vahanam’ during a raid at the residence of Thantri Rajeevaru the other day.
The Vaji vahanam is an ancient sculpture made of 11 kg of Panchaloham covered in gold.
Missing of the decades old
invaluable Ashtadik Palakar on the old flagpole is also mysterious.
Meanwhile, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau has registered a case over alleged irregularities in the sale of ‘Adiya Sishtam Ghee’ in Sabarimala.
Preliminary findings revealed that within a short span of less than two months, an amount of approximately Rs 35 lakh was siphoned off exclusively from the sale of Adiya Sishtam Ghee. The proceeds from this offering form a crucial part of the Travancore Devaswom Board’s revenue.
The proceeds of ghee sold from the counter in the Maramath Building were not remitted to the Devaswom account.
Trouble is also brewing for Congress as golden Vajivahanam was handed over to Thantri violating the norms.
Ajay Tharayil has defended the handover of the vaji vahanam to Tantri Kanthar Rajeev, following customary practice, though no official records were made at the time.
