Audit Report: Gold, Ivory Articles Missing From Guruvayoor Krishna Temple
According to the 2019-20 audit report, over 522.96 kg of ivory was carved into valuable articles but not even a kg of those were officially handed over to the forest department. The related receipts of the articles were also missing
The audit reports of the Sri Krishna temple at Guruvayoor in Kerala revealed some startling facts, even as the Kerala High Court constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the gold loss at the famous Sabarimala temple in the state. According to the report, for the past few years, valuable items made of gold, silver and ivory have been missing, mainly due to the negligence and poor administration of the temple authorities. It was also found that the donations and valuables offered by the devotees are not being registered properly.
The audits brought to light that the temple's assets and money were being misused.
According to the state audit wing reports relating to the 2019-20, 2020-21, it has been identified that the Punnattur Kotta Elephant Sanctuary, under the purview of the Guruvayoor Temple administration, is the epicenter for loss of the elephant tusks and articles made from ivory.
According to the 2019-20 audit report, over 522.96 kg of ivory was carved into valuable articles but not even a kg of those were officially handed over to the forest department. The related receipts of the articles were also missing. According to the Forest Assistant Conservator's letter, the Devasthanam should submit the inventory of the tusks and ivory chips to the forest department within 10 days but neither were the details nor the items were handed over to the forest wing higher officials.
However, Devasthanam Board chairman VK Vijayan said that the details were submitted before the Board took charge. The Board chairman also claimed of replying to the court notices.
The audit also revealed several aberrations in the maintenance of the double lock register, gold and silver items used for the puja on a daily basis. All the items taken for the puja were not returned to the officials after the rituals are complete. The weight of some valuable items have reduced by several hundreds of grams within just 10 months. In some instances, the items were replaced with completely different ones like a golden crown was replaced with a silver one, a vessel weighing 2.65 kg was replaced with a 750 gm one.
However, no action was taken against any of the staff members.
Similarly, the register relating to donations of devotees is also not maintained properly. The inventory of copper, bronze and panchaloha items has not been updated since 2016. A devotee from Palakkad donated a bronze urn costing Rs 15 lakh in 2022 but there is no receipt relating to the donation in the registers.
While the temple authorities need to get the audit done every year, it was found that there has been no audit for the last four decades.