Sabarimala gold theft | No Income, no problem: Unnikrishnan Potti sponsored big at Sabarimala with an almost empty account

The Kerala Devaswom Vigilance has found that Unnikrishnan Potti, a Bengaluru-based Malayali who had positioned himself as a donor for controversial restoration projects at the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple, had no steady or legitimate source of income—either through business or any other means.

In a report submitted to the Kerala High Court, the vigilance wing noted that for the financial year 2025–26, an amount of ₹10,85,150 came to his account in the name of an organisation named Kamakshi Enterprises, and was classified as “Other Social or Community Service.” Apart from this, no regular income was reflected in that year’s financial statement.

The report further observed that all the works and offerings made by Potti at Sabarimala, under the banner of “sponsorship”, should be investigated to determine who the real sponsors were. The vigilance also stated that it is reasonably suspected that Potti, under the guise of sponsorships and donations, had derived undue financial benefit.

It was about eight years ago that Potti arrived at the Sabarimala shrine as an assistant to the Keezh Shanthi (sub-priest). The son of a temple priest, Potti hails from Pulimath near Kilimanoor in Thiruvananthapuram district.

Though he eventually moved out of the job that brought him to Sabarimala, he soon carved out a niche for himself as the go-to man for arranging special privileges for the temple’s affluent patrons. Offerings and contributions from devotees outside Kerala allegedly began to flow through him.

By July 2019, Potti had become a high-profile “sponsor” in a dubious deal—approved by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), the autonomous body managing 1,252 temples including Sabarimala—to “repair and re-fix” gold-clad copper coverings on the Dwarapalaka idols at the entrance to the temple’s sanctum sanctorum.

The vigilance report alleges that Potti misappropriated around two kilograms of gold, affixed to the gold-plated copper sheets attached to the Dwarapalaka sculptures on either side of the Sreekovil, with the intent to defraud the Devaswom Board and gain illegally.

He had offered to undertake the repair and renovation of these sheets and submitted an application on June 17, 2019. Pursuant to this, the Travancore Devaswom Board issued an order granting him permission on July 5, 2019.

Following the order, on July 19 and 20, 2019, the Devaswom authorities removed and entrusted 42,800 grams of copper sheets from the Dwarapalaka sculptures and adjoining corners to Potti.

The sheets were subsequently transported from Sabarimala to Bengaluru and later to Hyderabad, purportedly for repair work. They were finally delivered to Smart Creations, Chennai, on August 29, 2019, where only 394.9 grams of gold was reapplied as plating, while the remaining quantity was allegedly misappropriated.

The vigilance also discovered that the sacred and highly valuable Dwarapalaka sculptures and copper sheets from the sanctum were taken to various houses and temples in Chennai, Bengaluru, and Kerala, without security, for ritual worship and profit-making purposes.

The investigation also confirmed that while the original copper sheets weighed 42,800 grams, the replaced sheets weighed only 38,258.1 grams, indicating a significant loss of gold.

The vigilance report also noted that despite having no steady income since 2017, Potti had carried out multiple sponsorship-based offerings at Sabarimala. Notably, for the restoration of a door at the shrine—publicly attributed to him—the actual sponsor was found to be Govardhan, a businessman from Ballari, Karnataka.

Potti is also said to have “sponsored” Annadanams (mass feedings), special poojas, temple decorations, and artefact donations, in addition to the controversial gold-plating of the Dwarapalaka idols.