After a brief gap, employees of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) have returned to the vault at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple to complete the counting of coins received during the recently concluded annual pilgrimage season.
According to K. Ananthagopan, president, TDB, over 400 employees from various groups under the board on Sunday began to sort and count the remaining heaps of coins at the temple. “Machines have been brought in for sorting the coins and the counting process is expected to be completed in another six days,” he said.
Official sources said coins worth around a few crores of rupees were left to be sorted at the temple. As many as 11 assistant commissioners under the Board have been deployed to lead the counting team, besides two special officers.
“Even if the counting process is completed within a week, a section of them will be retained at the temple in view of the upcoming monthly pujas from February 12 to 17,’’ said an official.
The Board has so far counted and deposited ₹351 crore from the offerings it received during the annual pilgrimage season that concluded on January 19. Though it had earlier planned to submit the final revenue figures to the Devaswom Bench of the Kerala High Court by January 25, the process was delayed as many of the staff members on counting duty developed health issues.
