New controversy surfaces over gold plating of Sabarimala yoga danda, rudraksha mala
Thiruvananthapuram: Already under a cloud and a Kerala High Court now ordering a criminal case in the gold plating row at the famed Sabarimala temple, on Friday a fresh controversy surfaced over the ‘yoga danda (ritual staff)’ and ‘rudraksha mala’ that adorned the Ayyappa idol at Sabarimala, with fresh disclosures linking the work to the son of a former senior temple official.
It has now emerged that Jayashankar Padman, son of former Devaswom Board president A. Padmakumar, was entrusted with carrying out the gold-plating and repair work of the yoga danda.
Padmakumar said the task was undertaken at the instruction of the temple tantri (chief priest).
“When the tantri asked who would do it, my son volunteered,” he explained, adding that the work was done without taking the sacred staff out of the temple premises. However, doubts have been raised over whether mandatory approval from the Kerala High Court was obtained for the work.
The controversy also involves the Rudraksha mala and the staff, which were taken from the sanctum sanctorum in 2018 for gold-plating as part of a Devaswom Board initiative.
There are no records verifying whether the same items were returned.
The yoga danda, originally donated by the Pandalam royal family, is a key ritual object placed on the idol after Harivarasanam. It carries deep spiritual and symbolic significance for devotees.
This revelation comes amid an ongoing probe into the missing gold-plated Dwarapalaka pedestals, which were sponsored in 2019 and later found unaccounted for.
The developments have now linked two sensitive temple gold-plating operations to the same team, raising fresh questions over accountability, record-keeping, and oversight in managing sacred assets at one of Kerala’s most revered shrines.
Now, with the SIT given six weeks to complete the entire probe and submit its report to the High Court, all eyes are on it to see if it unravels more lapses, as by now the role of the Devasom authorities has come under the scanner. One temple official has been suspended.