Amid Sabarimala gold theft row, audit reveals major irregularities in Guruvayur temple treasury

Amid a raging row over the alleged gold theft in Kerala’s Sabarimala temple, the government audits of the Guruvayur Devaswom have revealed a lack of physical verification of temple valuables, including gold and silver, and significant discrepancies between income and expenditure figures.

 

The Sree Krishna Temple in Thrissur district is a major pilgrimage centre, visited by tens of thousands of devotees each day.

 

The audits, conducted for 2019-20 and 2020-21, also revealed that the Devaswom's decisions were not made available for scrutiny after July 2012.

 

As per the 2019-20 audit report, discrepancies were observed under several heads, including revenue from investments, capital receipts, donations, taxes, capital expenditure, and recovery remittances.

 

The scrutiny of gold and silver articles inside the temple has brought to the fore some shocking discrepancies, with items returned after use showing unexplained weight loss. Also, a gold crown was replaced with a silver ornament, while a 2.65 kg silver vessel was replaced with one weighing just 750 grams.

 

According to the Guruvayur Devaswom Rules, 1980, the administrator must maintain a register of the temple's valuables, and the management committee is required to carry out an annual physical inspection of the items listed and submit a report to the Devaswom Commissioner.

 

However, accounting of copper, bronze and panchaloha articles allegedly stopped in 2016.

 

The audit report also alleged the absence of a proper accounting system, in line with applicable laws and rules. It was observed that receipts were not issued for valuables received from devotees, except for gold and silver items.

 

The 2020-21 audit report found that the total expenditure of the various Devaswom-related establishments, including resthouses, was around Rs 25 crore more than their combined revenue.

India