All eyes on Kerala temple vault opening
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM All eyes are on the sealed vault B of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, one of the richest shrines in the world, with Supreme Courtappointed amicus curie Gopal Subramanium expected to arrive at the state capital on Tuesday to hasten the process of opening it.
The 16th century temple, situated in the heart of Thiruvananthapuram, shot to fame six years ago when one of its six vaults (later codenamed A) was found to contain valuables worth an estimated ₹1 lakh crore.
During the last hearing, Subramanium had impressed upon the apex court the need to open vault B of the temple in order to complete the inventory of its assets. He will meet members of the erstwhile Travancore royal family, the former custodians of the temple, and other stakeholders to evolve a consensus.
The royal family and a section of devotees have opposed the opening on the grounds that such an action would “violate the sanctity of the temple”. They had earlier conducted an astrological ritual – devaprasnam – to perceive the mood of the deity, and informed the court that opening the vault amounted to violating tradition in a manner that would invite divine wrath. SC however, rebuked the royal family for putting superstition before the law.
There are six chambers, A to F, located under the temple’s sanctum sanctorum. While a couple of these are opened for pooja every day, two others are unlocked twice a year. Vault A used to be a secret vault until it was opened in 2011 on the Supreme Court’s orders.
According to sources in the temple, the antique coins found in the sealed chamber alone weighed over 600 kg. Of the two lakh items documented by government officials, 600 were found embedded with invaluable gems.
In 2009, retired IPS officer TP Sundararajan had filed a petition alleging extensive pilferage of valuables from the temple. He claimed that precious ornaments and jewels were being smuggled out of the shrine, and replaced with cheap copies. The SC ordered that the valuables be inventoried and the royal family divested of its hold.