Former judge of the Kerala High Court C.N.Ramachandran Nair, along with a team of jewellery appraisers and assistants, inspected the sacred jewellery (Thiruvabharanam) of the presiding deity of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple at the Pandalam Srambickal palace on Friday.
The Supreme Court had directed him to prepare an inventory of the ornaments and submit a report in four weeks.
The apex court’s directive followed an alleged dispute between two branches of the royal family of erstwhile Pandalam kingdom, which is the custodian of the sacred ornaments.
Mr. Nair reached the palace in the forenoon. Palace managing committee members P.G. Sasikumar Varma, P.N. Narayana Varma, and Deepa Varma received him and handed over the jewel boxes for verification.
The team ascertained the quality, quantity, and purity of the jewellery using electronic equipment.
Report soon
Mr. Nair later informed the media that his job was over and he would submit the report at the earliest. “Now, I will submit my report in a sealed cover to the Supreme Court. In my stocktaking, I was assisted by jewellery experts and we did everything using electronic devices,” said Mr. Nair, adding he was happy with the security arrangements in place for the ornaments.
A Bench of Justices N.V. Ramana, Ajay Rastogi, and V. Ramasubramanian on February 7 directed Mr. Nair to complete the inventory report and submit it to the Supreme Court Bench.
(With inputs from IANS)
