Thiruvananthapuram, 24 September (H.S.):A gold crown offered by devotees to the Sabarimala temple has not gone missing, Travancore Devaswom Board president K Jayakumar said, responding to reports that the offering could not be found.

Jayakumar said the crown should be at Aranmula if it was not at Sabarimala. According to information provided by the Thiruvabharanam Commissioner, the crown is at Aranmula, he said. The Board will verify its presence there.

The commissioner has been called in to explain the matter, Jayakumar added. The Board had earlier said the crown believed to be missing was safe, and the commissioner had submitted an explanation to it.

The crown, weighing 55.72 sovereigns, was offered by devotees from Tamil Nadu in 2012. Questions about its whereabouts prompted reports that it had disappeared. The Board now says it has accounted for the crown, though it has yet to complete its verification at Aranmula.

Uncertainty remains over some other items, according to information available on the matter. Those items will continue to be examined. The Board has not identified them or said what discrepancies, if any, have been found.

Jayakumar’s clarification addresses the concern about the crown, but the Board’s check is still pending. He said it would confirm the crown’s location after obtaining a further explanation from the commissioner.

The issue has drawn attention because the crown was a valuable offering made by devotees more than a decade ago. The Board’s immediate task is to establish where it is kept and clarify why its whereabouts came into question.

For now, the Board’s position is that the crown is safe. Its inquiry into the other items will continue separately, with further details expected after the relevant records and holdings are checked.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman