Temple treasure valued upto Rs 1 lakh crore

Thiruvananthapuram, According to the recent reports the seven-member committee, appointed by the Supreme Court to take an inventory of the six vaults (kallaras) at the SreePadmanabhaswamy Temple here, have found stunning range of precious articles estimated to be worth Rs one lakh crore.

One of the amazing artifacts found on Saturday is a golden statue of Lord Vishnu studded with precious gems. Other articles found from the cellar opened on Saturday include emeralds, various types of golden chains and zodiac rings.

It turned out to be a virtual treasure trove of precious gold ornaments, jewels, stone-studded crowns, vessels, platters, lamps, solid gold objects and a wide range of other curios of immense heritage and intrinsic value.

The examination of four of the six inner chambers in the sprawling temple complex showed that they contained gold chains, gold, a large number of silver and brass platters, ornaments, a stone-studded crown and glittering gold coated parasols and may other objects of great intrinsic and antique value, temple sources said.

The erstwhile royal family of Travancore in Kerala is thrilled that valuables worth thousands of crores have been discovered in the chambers of a temple it manages.

A Supreme Court appointed committee is opening six chambers in the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple and making an inventory of the stock.

The unofficial estimate of the gems and jewellery found in the chambers, two of which have not been openned for nearly 150 years, is Rs.1 lakh crore ($22 billion).

The head of the royal family of Travancore, Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma, was tight lipped on the discovery and said: 'I have nothing to say on this because one has to abide by the ruling of the apex court.'

Varma is the managing trustee of the trust that runs the temple.

The task of making the inventory began Monday and five chambers have been opened.

One of the members of the royal family said: 'How many royal families in the country can be proud of keeping things like this? You should understand that two chambers out of the six have not been opened for more than 150 years and it there that the treasure trove has been kept safely.

'Tomorrow (Monday), one of the chamber that has already been opened will be checked again. The chamber B is left. One committee members has gone to Delhi to get the instructions on how to open the chamber B,' the royal family member told IANS.

The stock-taking process was ordered by the Supreme Court following a petition by advocate T.P. Sundararajan over mismanagement of the temple affairs.

Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has called a high-level meeting Sunday evening to discuss the issue of providing fool proof security to the temple in the light of the revelation of the treasure trove.