Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president P.S. Prasanth on Saturday (October 4, 2025) appeared to suggest that the board authorities might have erred in 2019 by entrusting the Sabarimala temple panels for repair to Unnikrishnan Potty, a former temple helper currently at the centre of the controversy concerning the alleged “misappropriation” of valuable religious artefacts from the Ayyappa temple.
Mr. Prasanth told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that the Chennai-based firm, which the TDB had contracted for restoring the gold-plated copper overlays covering the ancient stone carvings and sculptures at the temple in 2019, had issued a 40-year warranty in Mr. Potty’s name.
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“Instead of the TDB, the warrantor named the supposed sponsor, Mr. Potty, as the original purchaser in the 2019 maintenance contract”, he said.
Mr. Prasanth said the TDB was constrained to seek Mr. Potty’s help, given that the restoration firm had issued the warranty in his name, again in 2025, to repair the copper-gold covering of the two stone sculptures flanking the entrance to the Sabarimala temple’s sanctum sanctorum.
