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Explain ‘irregularities’ in Global Ayappa conclave, HC asks TDB
Kerala HC seeks TDB's explanation on financial irregularities in the Global Ayyappa Sangamam after an audit report raised concerns over expenses and procurement.
The Kerala high court on Wednesday asked the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to explain the alleged irregularities in the financial accounts of the Global Ayyappa Sangamam held in September last year after perusing a report filed by an independent team that audited the accounts.
The division bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and KV Jayakumar sought an explanation from the autonomous board, that administers hundreds of temples in southern Kerala including the Sabarimala shrine, on the accounts of the conclave and also asked for inputs from the Kerala state audit department.
The Global Ayyappa Sangamam, held on September 20, 2025 on the banks of the Pampa river near Sabarimala, was envisaged as a conclave to discuss ways to promote Sabarimala as a major religious and spiritual destination. Inaugurated by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the one-day event featured discussions on crowd management during the annual season, the Sabarimala development masterplan and ways to develop a spiritual tourism circuit around the shrine. The event was attended by delegates from India and abroad.
With questions raised on the aspects of funding, the event became a political hot-button topic at the time. Refuting any speculations, the state government and the TDB had maintained at the time that the event was completely funded through sponsorships.
Before greenlighting the event in September, the high court had asked the TDB to maintain transparent and detailed accounts on the expenses incurred for it including the funds received as part of sponsorships. The court had ordered for the accounts to be subjected to auditing and for a report to be filed before it within 45 days.
“In the auditor’s statement, certain issues have been highlighted for which it is for the TDB to explain before us the reasons for the arising of such issue,” the HC noted.
As per the auditor’s report, the event work was entrusted to the Indian Institute of Infrastructure and Construction (IIIC) without any tender or competitive bidding procedure.
The HC also noted that no supporting documents regarding certain items which were procured in the aggregate amount have been made available to the auditor.
“It is seen from the Board’s stock, items such as 4100 units of Aravana, 4100 packets of Appam, 4100 packets of vibhuti, 4100 packets of manjal kumkumam, 4100 units of Adhishishtam ghee and 1 kg of sandalwood were issued for distribution to the participants of the Sangamam and devotees. It is said that the monetary value of the said items has not been accounted for in the book of accounts,” the court said.
TDB president K Jayakumar said that it received ₹4 crore for the event in the form of sponsorships.
“It is being said that the expenses have exceeded what we got. The Board will meet on Feb 17 where it has invited those who were in charge of the event last year. We will discuss ways on how to curtail expenses,” he said.
Former TDB president N Vasu gets bail
Former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president and CPI(M) leader N Vasu was granted bail by the Vigilance court in Kollam on Wednesday in the Sabarimala gold theft case.
He received statutory bail after spending 90 days in remand. The SIT probing the case has not submitted its charge sheet so far in the case.
Vasu served as TDB president in 2018-19, a period during which Unnikrishnan Potty, the first accused, is said to have gained entry into the shrine. He is the first political leader in the case to be granted bail.
