Row over Ambalappuzha Sree Krishnaswamy temple priest's appointment

ALAPPUZHA: A controversy has erupted over the  appointment of Kesavan Namboodiri as the head priest of the Ambalappuzha Sreekrishnaswamy temple.

The devotees have protested  against his appointment as he has been facing an investigation into the missing of the pendant from the temple in April this year. Namoodiri  is the head priest of  the Kannamangalam family which enjoys Karazhma (hereditary rights).  

The Travancore Devaswom Board appointed  him as head priest on the basis of the recommendation made by the senior priest of the family.  After the TDB suspended the official head priest Baburaj Namboodiri, another member of the family, for lapses in safekeeping the ornaments at the temple, the senior priest had approached the High Court which upheld their right.

However, the devotees have demanded  that the family should appoint  a clean person from the family as head priest.

The Special Temple Anti-Theft Squad  is looking into the case of the missing pendant as per the High Court orders on September 15 after D. Subhash, a member, Karma Samithi, a devotee outfit, filed a petition.

Mr R. Sankaran Nair, chairman, Karma Samithy, said that Kesavan Namboodiri was the last  person who handled the ornaments before they  disappeared.   “We will raise this issue before the court and  will not recognise him as priest till the investigation is over,” he said.

Assistant commissioner S. Regunathan Nair had said in a letter that  Kesavan Namboodiri, who was then helping  head priest Baburaj, had given the ornaments to deck up the deity during the Vishu festival.

Mr Subhash  said  that the local police, who had questioned  Kesavan Namboodiri, had not cleared him of the charges.

The family does not have qualified priests to keep its  rights intact. Young family member Yedhukrishnan Namboodiri, who is an engineer, was not interested to take up the traditional job.