After Sabarimala, another Kerala temple under fire as audit flags financial lapses

The 2019-2020 Kerala Audit report has highlighted multiple procedural lapses in the maintenance of records by the Guruvayur Devaswom Board. When auditors examined the board’s income and expenditure for 2019-20, they found discrepancies, suggesting unscientific budgeting practices.

The audit observations come amid ongoing allegations of missing gold from the Sabarimala Temple. The Kerala High Court has confirmed the gold theft case and ordered a criminal probe, while an SIT has arrested prime accused Unnikrishnan Potty for allegedly moving 4.5 kg of gold with Devaswom officials.

The report also noted delays in submitting annual reports and highlighted that physical verification of gold and silver held by the Devaswom is not conducted every year, as mandated. Auditors recommended that the board carry out such verifications annually to ensure proper accounting of temple assets.

Valuable items donated to the temple were found unaccounted for. The report specifically mentioned a 2,000 kg vessel, worth Rs 15 lakh, donated in 2002 by a Palakkad native, which does not appear in any records.

Other devotional offerings, including Manjadi seeds counted for sacks by devotees and saffron flowers, were also missing from the accounts. These lapses point to widespread procedural errors in the board’s record-keeping practices.

Following these revelations, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrashekar wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking intervention in matters of corruption, misappropriation, and violations in Kerala temples, including the Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple.

Chandrashekar has requested that a central agency investigate transactions of Devaswom Boards and temples over the last 30 years in light of these reported irregularities.

He has also urged the Home Minister to direct a thorough audit of all Devaswom Boards by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, with findings published in the public domain. According to Chandrashekar, such measures will help identify those responsible for crimes in temples and enable their prosecution.

However, Devaswom officials said that a detailed counter-affidavit had been filed before the High Court, countering all the claims made in the audit report. The case was taken up suo moto by the court more than two years ago based on the audit findings, but there have been no further proceedings in the last 2.5 years, as the High Court appeared convinced with the counter-affidavit.

Addressing the issue of missing ivory mentioned in the audit report, officials said that all ivory is handed directly to the Forest Department as per rules whenever it is cut, which is why it does not appear in the temple’s stock registry.

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