TDB Returns Dwarapalaka Gold Plates to Sabarimala Amid HC Probe into Weight Discrepancy
Sabarimala, Sept. 2025: The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has returned the gold plates of the Dwarapalaka idol to the Sabarimala Sannidhanam, just days after the Kerala High Court ordered a probe into a significant discrepancy in their weight. The plates will be reinstalled on the idol once the court grants permission.
The TDB came under criticism after a special commissioner informed the High Court’s Devaswom Bench that the plates had been removed without his consent. Further investigations — ordered by the court — revealed a loss of nearly 4.5 kg of gold, leading the Bench to censure the TDB for failing to report the shortfall.
According to records placed before the High Court, the copper plates — which had been gold-plated and installed in 1999 — were handed over in July 2019 to devotee Unnikrishnan Potty, who had obtained permission to undertake fresh gold-plating at his own expense.
The registers showed that 12 copper plates weighing 25.4 kg and two peedams weighing 17.4 kg — a total of 42.8 kg — were handed over to him. However, when Mr. Potty later delivered the items to Smart Creations, the eighth respondent in the case, on August 29, 2019, the weight had inexplicably fallen to 38.258 kg.
After the re-plating process, the weight increased slightly to 38.653 kg, but still reflected a shortfall of 4.147 kg from the original 42.8 kg.