Kerala High Court orders vigilance probe into weight discrepancy of Sabarimala idol's gold-plated copper plates

Kochi: Kerala High Court on Wednesday took serious note of reduction in weight of gold-cladded copper plates of the 'Dwarapalaka' (guardian deity) idols in front of the Sabarimala sanctum sanctorum when they were last removed in 2019 and ordered a vigilance probe into the matter.

A bench of justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and KV Jayakumar noted that according to the records regarding the gold-cladded copper plates of the idols, when they were removed in 2019 for fresh gold-plating, they weighed 42.8 kg. But when they were produced before the company entrusted to carry out the gold-plating, their weight was 38.258 kg, the court noted. It also noted that the plates were presented before the company more than a month and nine days after they were removed from the temple by the sponsor.