TDB questions Unnikrishnan Potti over misuse of Sabarimala artefacts for ‘private worship’

The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) vigilance wing questioned Unnikrishnan Potti, as part of its ongoing investigation into alleged misappropriation and suspected misuse of Sabarimala Ayyappa temple artefacts for private worship at the residences of wealthy cinema celebrities and businesspersons in Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Also Read | Gold-plated door repair at Sabarimala faces roadblock amid mercury ban, scandal concerns

The TDB had contracted Mr Potti, a well-connected priest who occasionally worked part-time at the Sabarimala temple and moved in high social circles, to restore the gold-plated overlays covering the Ayyappa shrine’s ancient stone carvings and sculptures in 2019.

Subsequently, Mr Potti, with the TDB’s permission, removed the panels from the temple for restoration at a firm in Chennai.

Officials said the ongoing vigilance probe notably covered the recovery of two “gold-plated coverings reported missing from Sabarimala” from the residence of Mr. Potti’s sister in Thiruvananthapuram last month.

The unit noted an “incriminating oddity” in TDB officials certifying the gilded panels earmarked for restoration in 2019 as made of pure copper.

Officials said the vigilance wing also reportedly questioned Mr Potti over the four-month delay in depositing the panels taken out of the temple in 2019 for restoration and what transpired during the period.

Officials said the vigilance is examining whether Mr Potti misused the temple property for “private poojas” based on 2019 video footage and photographs that have gone viral on social and conventional media. It is also examining whether Mr Potti or others had used the poojas for private fund collection and personal profiteering.

Moreover, the unit is also re-examining the alleged four-kilogram reduction in the weight of the metals returned to the temple by Mr Potti in 2019 and why the restoration company in Chennai issued the 40-year warranty for the refurbished temple panels in Mr Potti’s name instead of naming the TDB as the original purchaser.

Notably, the warranty in Mr Potti’s name had constrained the TDB in August 2025 to seek his services for repair, despite cautionary red flags raised by the vigilance wing in 2019.

TDB President P. S. Prasanth clarified on Saturday that the Board had transported the panels covering the stone sculptures flanking the entrance to the sanctum sanctorum under police escort to Chennai for repair. “The TDB had summoned Mr Potti to Chennai and did not entrust the panels with him as it happened in 2019. There was no reduction in weight (38 kg) in the gold-plated (387 sovereigns) panels”, he said.

Mr Potti, who emerged after four hours of questioning at the TDB headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, told reporters that he was the victim of a media witch-hunt and was innocent of the charges “journalists” had levelled against him.