Pledging the Jewellery of Lord Ayyappa

The rising heat of financial crisis due to Covid 19 pandemic seems to have charred a lot. Adding to the woes, we heard yesterday that the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala is planning to pledge the massive gold reserves in its vaults. The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) is planning to approach the Reserve Bank of India for gold loans. Initial news reports stated that the Board was planning to pledge the jewellery of Lord Ayyappan. Now we hear that this scheme has been extended to all temples under TDB.

Many battles have been fought in the Indian courts against the illegal takeover of temples & its administration over the years. Burning the midnight oil many hard-working individuals and organizations are fighting to remove the octopus control of secular government over temples. 

The reasons stated for the takeover of administration of temples are generally lack of transparency, misappropriation of funds, and many such reasons. The ‘N’ number of reasons are mere shams. What do we really have under the veil?

The temple is seen as a cash cow by the government. The funds of the temple are pumped into the Government’s treasury under various names citing ample reasons. The Lord’s money is used by the government for other purposes whereas the money is intended for the benefit of the deity and His devotees. 

Now coming to Kerala, as of today, there are 5 Devaswom boards in the state.

1. Travancore Devaswom Board, which owns almost 98% of temples in South Kerala.
2. Cochin Devaswom Board which owns almost 90% of temples in central Kerala 
3. Guruvayur Devaswom Board, which owns the famous Guruvayur temple.
4. Irinjalakuda Koodalmanikyam Devaswom which owns Koodalmanikyam Bharatha Temple and its properties
5. Malabar Devaswom Board which manages temples of the Malabar region. 

Travancore Devaswom Board is the oldest board and it owns around 1240 temples. The Sabarimala temple is the largest and most important temple of the Travancore Devaswom board. All these 5 boards put together yield an income crossing 1000 crores per annum. As per the audit report for the financial year 2015-16, the TDB or Travancore Devaswom Board alone yields an income of Rs. 580 crores. More than half of this income accrues from Sabarimala alone.

In short, the Devaswom Boards are the proverbial golden goose for the Kerala government. This is precisely the reason for the individual clamour from various quarters of the government to get into the boards of Guruvayur & Sabarimala. The so-called autonomous bodies named Devaswom Boards are always filled with loyal supporters to subvert the system.

The Travancore Devaswom Board comprises President and two Members, the President and one Member is nominated by the Hindu members of the Kerala Council of Ministers and the other Member from the Hindu Members of State legislature. In other words, the ruling party decides the board. 

Now coming to the present issue, as per the 2015-16 audit report, the annual expenses of TDB mounts to 331 crores – out of which Rs 223 crores is spent on the salary and pension payments while only 53 crores is allotted for temple expenses. The board has around 5,000 employees and nearly 4,000 pensioners. A large share of the 53 crore rupees allotted for temple expenses is spent on taking care of the establishment costs like electricity, maintenance, water charges, etc. Whatever left is then allotted for the purchase of pooja materials.

The TDB president said in June 2020 that the board has sought an aid of Rs 160-crore from the government. As per him, “The government had granted Rs 10 crore in May. This, along with previous savings and some reallocation helped us to meet the salary and pension payments for that month. Somehow we can manage the expenses for June as well but not any further”.

As a continuation of the above statement regarding measures needed to control the financial crisis during Covid lockdown, we now hear this idea of Pledging the jewellery of temples.

Sabarimala and Other temples hold massive gold jewellery received as offerings to the deity for over the years. For instance, the Aithihyamala (1909) talks about a Golden Crown studded with nine gems and a golden Necklace offered by the then Pandala Raja to Sabarimala. Time and again many devotees have offered so many Gold and other ornaments, puja materials and jewellery to the Lord.

One must very clearly remember that all these are offered to the deity and not to the board. It is also to be noted that a few years back, the High Court of Kerala had ordered an audit of the offerings received at the temple. This was due to allegation of mismatch of about 40-kilograms of gold and 100-kilograms of silver in the temple inventory.

Now due to the pandemic lockdown, the board or rather the Government is under extensive financial stress. In May, the TDB had even decided to sell unused “lamps and traditional brass utensils” to generate funds. On 22 August, a meeting was held with the temple boards. After this, they have come out with an ingenious idea of using ‘Gold Monetization Scheme’ and avail a 2.5% interest against gold loans deposited to RBI. 

The problem has multiple facets:

1. The interest of the Deity – The deity of any temple, who is defined as a Perpetual minor in legal terms has the right to enjoy all his properties. The Board is only a body that works for the minor (deity)’s interest. Instead of protecting the interest of the minor, which is the very purpose of constituting the board, the board is trying to swindle the minor’s properties. 

2. Employer and Employee – Here the Board is the employer and staff members are employees. The Deity has nothing to do with them.One key point to be noted is: the Staff, their salary, the pension is the quandary of the Devaswom board and not of the Deity. There is no agreement between the deity and the employee. The agreement is only between the board and the staff. The Board has appointed them as Government staff and utilizing their services for remuneration. So the financial crisis of the board has to be handled by the board on its income and not with the deity’s assets or jewellery which is personal in nature. 

3. Rationalizing the workforce – If there is a financial crisis due to the payment of salary and pensions to the staff, it is the duty of the Guardian (board) to rationalize the workforce. Any administrative body would first reduce and size down the staff during a financial crisis. Normally in a temple, there will be so many volunteers and devotees who would be ready to offer their services for a much lesser remuneration or even free of cost. So running the day to day affairs of the temple cannot be cited as a reason for this drastic measure. If the financial administration of the temple is the real problem, it can be managed easily with these remedies. Moreover, if they are considered as government staff, they were appointed only by the ministry and the board and they have to deploy them elsewhere and free the temple from the overheads and financial burden. Instead, the entire burden is imposed on the temple and used as an excuse to swag the wealth of the temple. 

4. Breach of Trust – The jewellery of the deity is actually an offering to the Deity by a devotee under the trust that it will be used for the temple puja purposes and for adorning the deity. This is the sole purpose for which the jewellery is handed over to the temple. Hence the board can assist in safeguarding this jewellery but cannot sell, pledge, or use for some other purpose. When the jewellery is pledged or sold the very purpose for which it is given is defeated – a clear breach of trust. This is not the first time, but we see a history of attempts, of larceny.  In 2016, the Kerala government tried to take the Devaswom money to withstand the then prevalent economic crisis. However, it wasn’t successful due to the agitations and legal challenges from various organizations. During May 2020, a fund of Rs. 5 crores from the Guruvayur Devaswom was right royally given to Kerala Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund. Now the same thing is extended in a new attire rather another method to con. 

Any temple is self sufficient and capable of taking care of itself – if managed properly. Instead the boards, in the name of administration have converted into a lucrative money generating venture – by violating all dharmas. In all means, the board cannot use the temple or the deity’s properties for any other purpose, other than worship and devotional activities. 

Sabarimala has won many a battle against grand destructive acts enacted by the evils. During the puranic era, Manikandan won over the evil plot by the ministers and thus came the temple. During the 1950 Fire by the miscreants, the temple withstood the destruction and rose strong. In the name of young women’s entry, the temple’s tradition and beliefs were challenged. Now in the name of Pandemic the properties and jewellery of the lord are under threat. 

With folded hands, we all should pray to Ayyappa and make sure that it does not happen. Until we devotees exist, we must fight to protect not only the temple’s tradition and practices but also its properties.

Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa !