Temple treasure worth over Rs.90,000 crore

By Lekshmi Gopalakrishnan
Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 3 (PTI) Gold ornaments, gold and
silver coins, stone studded crowns, idols and figurines inlaid
with precious stones and jewels estimated to be worth a
whopping over Rs.90,000 crore have been found from the cellars
of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, in the southern Indian state
of Kerala.
The inventory list of jewellery after the opening of the
chambers, some locked up for several decades, on Supreme Court
orders, is expected to go up substantially.
The exercise which began on June 27 to assess the value
of the articles has been undertaken by a seven-member panel of
observers, including two former High Court judges. It will
continue after a day's breather Sunday.
According to the temple sources, the treasure trove has
been so far estimated at around Rs 90,000 crore, throwing up
security concerns with police as an interim step deploying two
platoons of armed personnel to guard the area.
While similar treasures possessed by many other princely
states in pre-colonial India were plundered by attackers,
or wasted on luxuries by members of the royal houses
themselves, the Travancore kings are believed to have
zealously guarded them as reserves of the state.
Coins from other princely states like Vijayanagar empire
and European countries have also been found which might be
part of the gifts received by the rulers of the time.
While all major temples of the area were handed over to
the Travancore Devaswom Board after merger of the princely
state with the Indian Union after 1947, control of
Padmanabhaswamy temple was retained by the royal house through
a covenant with the government.
Narayanan, former Indian History Congress President said,
"The state or Central government cannot take over these assets
as they are part of the temple coffers according to the system
followed by the Travancore kings."