SIT to examine 2019 repair works of Sabarimala Yoga danda and Japa Mala
Pathanamthitta: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing alleged irregularities at the Sabarimala temple has expanded its investigation to include the repair works carried out in 2019 on Lord Ayyappa’s Yoga danda (T-shaped wooden staff) and Japa Mala (prayer beads). The move follows a statement by one of the accused claiming that the original Yoga danda and Japa Mala were replaced with new items.
The expanded probe is also in line with a Kerala High Court directive asking the SIT to investigate alleged irregularities dating back to 2014.
The repair works were undertaken during the Vishu festival in April 2019, when A. Padmakumar was the Travancore Devaswom Board president. It was claimed that the repairs were offered by his son. The Devaswom Board had stated that the works were carried out at the sannidhanam (temple premises).
The repairs took place shortly before the dwarapalaka (guardian deity) sculptures were removed in July 2019 for gold plating. According to a Devaswom Board decision dated March 16, 2019, the Yoga danda was taken out to be wrapped in gold. The decision also notes that Jayashankar Padman was entrusted with carrying out the repairs.
The Yoga danda and rudraksha mala are sacred items kept exclusively inside the sanctum sanctorum. The Yoga danda was originally offered by the Pandalam Palace at the time of the temple’s consecration.
While authorities claimed the repairs were done at the sannidhanam with High Court permission, the SIT has raised concerns as records do not clearly mention the location of the work or provide details such as the court order number.
A mahazar documenting the repairs was prepared on April 14, 2019, and bears the signatures of Murari Babu, then Administrative Officer (now in jail), Executive Officer D. Sudheesh Kumar, and Thiruvabharanam Commissioner K.S. Baiju. Sources said statements by one of these officials prompted the SIT to closely examine the Yoga danda issue.
According to the mahazar, the gold rings on the Yoga danda initially weighed 19.2 grams. Later, 44.54 grams of gold were used to make 18 rings and a gold cap at the base. The document also states that the rudraksha malas were washed and cleaned using tamarind.
Temple sculptor Thattavila Mahesh Panicker, from a family of traditional temple artisans, said the original Yoga danda was made of ebony (karungali) wood and alleged that it was replaced with a bamboo staff wrapped in gold.