Viewed against the tumult of the last seven days when a vast collection of gold, silver, precious stones and priceless jewellery were discovered in the vaults of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple here, Monday was a quiet day.
On Monday, Vault E — which is regularly opened by the chief priest of the temple — was opened and inventoried. Golden crowns and ornaments used to adorn the main deity were found in it.
The seven-member Supreme Court-appointed committee, which is inventorying the six vaults of the temple, will meet on July 8 to discuss the modalities of opening Vault B, the only one which remains to be opened. Access beyond a point to this vault is blocked by a thick door resembling that of a strong room. A preliminary inspection of the vault on June 29 revealed numerous silver articles.
The vaults are being inventoried following a Supreme Court order based on a petition filed by a former IPS officer and Supreme Court lawyer, T.P. Sundara Rajan.
June 30, 2011 was, quite literally, a ‘golden day' for the temple. On that day, the panel unearthed a vast collection of idols and artefacts studded with precious stones, including diamonds, rubies and emeralds, in a subterranean chamber of vault A. Golden crowns and staffs and hundreds of kilos of vintage coins were also found.
Though it was widely known that the vaults were a treasure trove, the sheer volume and diversity of the invaluable articles brought to light from Vault A were nothing short of astonishing. However, can a price tag be placed on these riches which have been assiduously built up and zealously guarded over centuries by the kings and queens of erstwhile Travancore? The sovereigns of Travancore ruled their kingdom as ‘Padmanabhadasas,' the servants of the presiding deity.
The media has been awash with reports that the riches of the articles amount to thousands of crores of rupees. However, the Supreme Court panel is only counting and weighing the treasure. Their value, including antique value, is not being assessed. In fact, Mr. Rajan has made a written submission to the committee that without an assessment of the value of the contents, the inventory would not be complete and proper.
Some of the objects found — the idol of Mahavishnu made of gold and studded with ‘navaratnas', for instance — are deemed to be invaluable by a representative of the Department of Archaeology who is a panel member. So, any ‘value' assigned to any article would only be a guesstimate for now. Also, there are those who argue that the ‘value' of religious artefacts would be much more than just the value of the gold they are made of.
Another important aspect is that the temple has suddenly become a “security concern.” The Kerala government has drawn up a special security plan which includes the deployment of armed policemen and round-the-clock mobile police patrolling. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Sunday reviewed the security arrangements with top police officials.
The Supreme Court has ordered that the contents of vaults A and B should be inventoried and placed back.
Considerable anxiety has arisen, mainly among the devotees, regarding the future of these riches. A dominant opinion appears to be that these should be preserved and protected for posterity. The final word on this may well come from the Supreme Court.
Keywords: Padmanabhaswamy temple treasure
There must be umpteen temples in Tamil Nadu too wherein unknown treasures lie. When I was a teen, I used to hear that Sri Thiagarajaswamy temple in Tiruvarur had a cave that led to the Tanjore Fort. Many such stories are told of other temples also. Is it time to start opening up all these treasure chests?
My greatest thanks to all Travancore Maharajas for keeping away from All British officers like Collector , Police or otherwise these offeringto Lord would have been in London. Now in England all the British ex rulers of Travancore are to be enquired where ever they are on the earth or elsewhere for not doing duty properly.
When there is 14738 US Billion$ stashed away in Swiss banks by mostly politicians, it is convenient to focus on legitimate temple money to be diverted to xyz funds for welfare etc. There never was or is a shortage of wealth, only distribution. The temple Authorities have always been doing their bit by providing free food to everyone under the patronage of the Royal Family (Until the Govt started to interfere) so IMHO, the Temple Authorites should keep the money as 1) It belongs to them and 2)they have a better record of spending it on the needy when compared to the best of the worlds NGO's and Govt. Someone commmented that it belongs to Madras state, it never belonged to any state at all. If you use that logic, then the Royal Family of Travancore have right to rule Tamil Nadu!. The money should stay with the temple, any help to the needy must be exclusively done by the Temple, the temple will decide who gets the benifits (e.g. only poor Hindus.
Bring it on. Now open up all vaults of South Indian Temples and continue valuations of temple assets. These treasures should go to Govt. of India and used in development process. The lesser weight and worth antiques like coins, ornaments should be auctioned using expertise of International auction firms to generate wealth for National Treasury. Major part of wealth must be used for education & infrastructure purpose.
This treasure belongs to the lord and should remain with him. A museum in the temples name would be great for giving the public a chance to see this. Why should this temple's wealth alone be used by the public etc as lots of other temples have crores of asset and so does the churches and Muslim orgs in the state and country .
It belongs to god. Gifted by humans to god.honest custodians have preserved it oven centuries.the auditing and publishing this has thrown up security concerns which did not exist before.if there is theft will Mr Sunder Rajan will take up responsibility and courts make amends? No human has the right to decide except for the custodians.Security expenses have to be recovered from the people who are responsible for auditing and publishing it.
To the poster above who is saying Tamilnadu should get a share from the treasure as it is part of erstwhile Madras presidency. There was no linguistic based division of states and madras was made capital for the reason it is the only port city developed by British government, going by your flawed logic erstwhile British government can also lay a claim in the temple treasure since India was ruled by British 130 years ago. Please don't bring the regional chauvinism here. Hats off to temple priests and travancore royal family for safeguarding the treasure from the British and other invaders including the present day politicians.
If agreed by all,the temple found wealth can be auctioned.The money obtained should be managed a trust to help people.
T.P. Sundara Rajan should have left the temple alone instead of trying to make name for himself. Now the Government of Kerala and the Central Government is in pickle with reagrds to protecting the vast historical artifacts. The Supreme Court should order the Central Government to provide for the protection and order Mr. T.P. Sundara Rajan to stand guard at the temple for 10 hours day for granting his wish. Trvancore Royal family historically has been a progressive in all of India and has stood steadfast for the welfare its people.
Sometimes it is better to leave unknowns be unknowns. It is a sacred temple that has withstood the test of time for centuries and will stand irrespective of individual greed and stupidity like the one exhibited by T.P. Sundara Rajan. Wonder what was the objective other than self importance and ego of T.P. Sundara Rajan.
Travancore king's honesty revealed the truth. Ancient temples, all over India have received similar donation from the community from time to time. Why there is no enquiry/audit are not taking place.
Marvellous. The temples are great treasurers for India. Now other countries must know India is what till now.
Money or wealth found meets with natural justice only when it is put to some sort of use and i am sure that the then rulers also had only this in mind. But given the character and track record of today's rulers all sorts of doubts arise. But then it is also a sin to allow wealth, of this magnitude, to remain idle without serving any worth-while purpose. Only the Supreme Court should monitor this wealth and ensure that it is put to some worth while cause, but i repeat allowing it to go without putting it to use will surely displease God. Use it and use it in the right and righteous way.
If Tiruvanandapuram is previous Madras state Govt of Tamilnadu should claim that treasure.
These are the lords tresures & should remain with the lord AnanthaPadmanabha (Lord Vishnu in the sleeping position - also known as Anantha shayanam) & guarded by the temple guardians ie: the Travancore royal family who have the first right to the temple & its contents.I have visited the temple for darshan innumerable number of times & have seen Maharaja Uttharadm Thirunal lead the procession of the lord.
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