Amid gold-plating controversy involving the Dwarapalaka idols at the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple, the Travancore Devaswom Board on Tuesday suspended a senior official in the department.
B. Murari Babu, who was the administrative officer of the Travancore Devaswom Board in 2019, is currently the Deputy Commissioner of the Harippad Devaswom. Following his suspension, Babu said he said will abide by the Board's decision.
The official's suspension comes after the Devaswom Board found serious lapses on his part during the temple renovation. Babu incorrectly recorded the two gold-plated Dwarapalaka sculptures on both sides of the Sanctum Sanctorum as copper panels in 2019. Six years later, in 2025, he issues an order to hand over the plates to Unnikrishnan Potti to gold re-plating.
Babu, however, claimed that he submitted the preliminary report based on a letter from the temple tantri. "My report stated that since the gold-plated surface had worn off and exposed the copper underneath, permission was granted for replating. I have writter what I saw, there was copper," Onmanorama quoted him as saying.
He added that the approval is given by his higher-ups after proper examination, adding that he is not responsible for the lapse.
This contradicts the claims of Smart Creations, a company which is responsible for the replating. Their lawyer claimed that traces of gold would always remain on the plates, contradicting Babu's claims about the copper being visible.
