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The Vigilance wing of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) on Sunday, September 28, recovered the peedam (pedestal) of the dwarapalaka idols from the Sabarimala temple, which was alleged to be “missing” by its donor Unnikrishnan Potty. In a shocking twist, the item was found at the residence of Unnikrishnan’s sister, leading officials to suspect a political conspiracy to malign the Global Ayyappa Sangamam organised by the CPI (M) government in Kerala.
Unnikrishnan, a Malayali settled in Bengaluru, had triggered a controversy by alleging that the peedam he donated to the temple had gone missing for the past six years. He made the allegation in the backdrop of the Global Ayyappa Sangamam held on September 20.
Unnikrishnan had claimed that he had taken the peedam in 2019 for maintenance and later returned it to be stored in the temple’s strongroom. However, the item went missing during a recent search, he alleged.
Speaking to reporters, Unnikrishnan’s sister, Mini Devi, revealed that her brother had left the item at her house on September 25. She said she was unaware of it, since the peedam was concealed in a cover.
“He told me it was something meant for Sabarimala, so I didn’t open it. He usually leaves temple-related items here,” she said. “It was only when Vigilance officials opened the cover that I realised it was the peedam.”
She also revealed that before bringing the peedam to her house, it was allegedly kept at Unnikrishnan’s friend Vasudevan’s residence. Vasudevan had allegedly accompanied Unnikrishnan, and promised to take back the item later.
Meanwhile, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president PS Prasanth said he suspects a conspiracy to malign the Global Ayyappa Sangamam. “He knew the peedam was with him, yet he accused the Devaswom Board of losing it.”
“The Congress and the BJP alleged I stole that. Who will answer for that?”
Prasanth said that he will make further comments on the issue after the Vigilance wing submits the report to the Kerala High Court.