Pathanamthitta: A new issue is brewing related to the holy shrine of Sabarimala. This time it revolves around the amount of gold and silver offerings given by devotees to the temple as mark of their faith and love.
The BJP leader K. Surendran questioned the doubt expressed by the Auditor concerning 40 kg of gold and 100 kg of silver which were received as offerings by the devotees. Surendran also said that there is no documents that prove that the missing gold and silver was moved to the strong room where it should be stored.
The Devaswom Minister, Kadakampally Surendran, has asked for the report concerning the issue. The Devaswom Board Chairman, A. Padmakumar, expressed his confidence that no gold or silver is missing.
The Devaswom Audit Department has decided to open the strong room, which is situated in Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple, on Monday and check for the missing gold and silver.
The strong room belonging to the Travancore Devaswom Board is managed by Assistant Accounts Officer. The strong room can be opened only in the presence of three officers. Tomorrow the Devaswom Audit Department will probe if the procedure related to the storing of gold and silver is being followed in the strong room.
The BJP leader K. Surendran said that the devotees have the right to know about the whereabouts of the gold and silver they had offered to the temple. He demanded that the Devaswom Minister and Devaswom President must react on the issue.
He also pointed at the lack of seriousness from the authorities concerning a grave situation related to the holy shrine. He took a jibe at the government saying that while the government was enthusiastic to get women into Sabarimala, they were not at all interested to pay attention to issues like these.
