In a significant move, 535 kg of gold, which is not in regular use by the temples under the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), including the famous Sabarimala temple, will be transferred to the State Bank of India (SBI) by mid-January. This decision is part of an investment plan aimed at generating interest income from the gold.
The transfer follows the approval of the Kerala High Court, and the inspection and accounting process of the gold, which has been ongoing for the past eight months, has now been completed. The gold, which belongs to 1,252 temples under the TDB, is stored in 21 strong rooms across various locations. It includes ornaments and other gold items that were donated by devotees as gifts and offerings.
At the current market price of gold, the annual interest earned from this gold is expected to be around Rs 10 crore.
The Devaswom Board has given its final approval to a five-year investment plan, and a meeting is scheduled for January 3. Representatives from SBI, the Devaswom Board, and the audit department will come together to finalize the transfer process. Devaswom President PS Prasanth and board member Adv. A Ajikumar confirmed the details of the meeting.
Following the meeting, the gold will be moved from the strong rooms to the Valiyasala of the Sreekanteswaram Group in Thiruvananthapuram. From there, it will be handed over to the SBI’s Thrissur branch in the presence of officials from the Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation. This marks a new chapter in the management of temple assets and the financial growth of the temples under the TDB.
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