A Supreme Court bench of Justices N V Ramana, Ajay Rastogi and V Ramasubramanian on February 7, 2020 appointed retired Kerala High Court judge C. N. Ramachandaran Nair to prepare an inventory and valuation report of ornaments of Lord Ayyappa of Sabarimala temple.
The SC decision came after apex court took cognisance of the dispute among different sects of the Pandalam Royal family claiming those ornaments.
The Supreme Court also requested Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Kerala government, to use his good office in finding an amicable resolution to ongoing dispute between warring faction of the royal family.
About Thanka Anki
- The ‘Thanka Anki’ is the sacred gold attire worn by God Ayyappa during the Mandala Pooja.
- The late Chitra Tirunal Balarama Varma of Travancore dynasty offered the ‘Anki’ weighing 420 sovereigns, to Sabarimala Ayyappan in 1973.
- The ‘Thanka Anki’ is stored at the Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple – one of the prominent temples dedicated to Krishna in Kerala.
- Ahead of Mandala Pooja, the ‘Thanka Anki’ is taken for Aranmula to Sabarimala with a ceremonial procession, a practice that introduced by the Travancore Devasom Board.