India: Treasure unearthed in Kerala temple

By Ashraf Padanna
Kochi



The temple was built in the 16th Century by the kings of Travancore

Treasure, thought to be worth billions of rupees, has been unearthed from secret underground chambers in a temple in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

Precious stones, gold and silver are among valuables found at Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.

The riches are thought to have been languishing in the temple vaults for more than a century, interred by the Maharajahs of Travancore over time.

They have not been officially valued and inspectors are taking an inventory.

Inspectors say they will continue cataloguing the treasure for at least one more week.

Unofficial estimates say that the treasure discovered so far over four days of inspections may be valued at more than 25 billion rupees ($500m). But historians say that assessing the true value of these objects is likely to be extremely difficult.

Security has been stepped up at the temple: “I have instructed the police chief to reinforce security further following the
findings and it would be there permanently,” Oomen Chandy, the state’s chief minister, said.

Concealed riches

The Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple was built in the 16th Century
by the kings who ruled over the then kingdom of Travancore. Local
legends say the Travancore kings sealed immense riches within the thick
stone walls and vaults of the temple.



The current Maharajah of Travancore has been the managing trustee of the temple

Since Independence, the temple has been controlled by a trust
run by the descendants of the Travancore royal family. After 1947 the
kingdom of Travancore merged with the princely state of Cochin, which
eventually became the present-day state of Kerala.

The inspections at the temple began after India’s Supreme
Court appointed a seven-member panel to enter and assess the value of
the objects stored in its cellars, including two chambers last thought
to have been opened about 130 years ago.

The Supreme Court also endorsed a ruling by the high court in
Kerala, which ordered the state government to take over the temple and
its assets from the royal trust. It also ordered the trust to hand over
responsibility for the temple’s security to the police.

The initial court petition was brought by a local lawyer,
Sundar Rajan, who filed a case in the Kerala High Court demanding the
takeover of the temple, saying that the current controllers were
incapable of protecting the wealth of the temple because it did not have
its own security force.

Anand Padmanaban, counsel for Sundar Rajan, was present when
observers appointed by the Supreme Court opened the treasure chambers.

“Treasures included very old gold chains, diamonds and
precious stones which cannot be valued in terms of money,” he told the
BBC Tamil service.

“Many of those things were pretty old, going back to the 18th Century. They could not count it, so they are weighing it.”

Only two of four chambers had been opened so far, he said.

Royal wealth?

The current Maharajah of Travancore, Uthradan Thirunaal
Marthanda Varma, who is also the managing trustee of the temple,
appealed to the Supreme Court against Sundar Rajan’s petition.

He said that as Maharajah he had every right to control the
temple because of a special law enacted after Independence, which vested
the management of the temple with the erstwhile ruler of Travancore.

But his appeal was rejected - Maharajahs have no special status in India and they are treated like ordinary citizens.

The members of the Travancore royal family consider
themselves to be servants of the presiding deity at the temple,
Padmanabhaswamy, which is an aspect of the Hindu God Vishnu in eternal
sleep. This is why they historically entrusted their wealth to the
temple.

But there was a public outcry when the Maharajah attempted
to retain control of the temple by citing the special law, with many
arguing that the wealth belonged to the people now.

The vaults were opened in the presence of the panel, and
observers, which include high court judges, temple officials,
archaeology authorities, Sundar Rajan and a representative of the
current Maharajah.

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