Treasure worth crores found in Kerala temple

[ManuSankar]

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One of Kerala's oldest temples may soon turn out to be one of the India's richest. A seven-member Supreme Court-appointed team is at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram taking stock at the shrine.

The chambers near the temple's sanctum sanctorum are believed to contain priceless gold and silver ornaments. The chambers had been kept shut for the last 130 years but were finally opened on June 27 following a Supreme Court order.

One of the chambers believed to have remained shut for nearly a century revealed precious jewels, stones, ornaments and metal lamps of rare heritage and antique values when it was opened and examined on Thursday.

The inner recess of this chamber was believed to have previously been opened during the reign of Travancore ruler Sree Visakham Tirunal about 130 years back

The opening of the first four chambers showed that three of them housed gold ornaments, vessels, jewels and precious stones worth hundreds of crores of rupees. It also had gold chains, diamond-studded bracelets, a crown and a golden bow. The temple, built in 18th century by King Marthanda Varma of the Travancore royal lineage, is run by a trust under control of the royal house and Lord Padmanabha is the family deity of Travancore Royal house.

The Supreme Court appointed committee consists of two former Kerala High Court judges. The actual worth of the treasure will only be revealed in a report to the Supreme Court.

The Centre is expected to provide security forces to guard the temple premises following the discovery.

The apex court had issued orders on a private petition, which sought measures for greater transparency and accountability in management of the temple.

[ManuSankar]

Friday, July 01, 2011: As the inventory process of cellars in Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple here continues to reveal treasure troves, Kerala government Friday decided to step up security of the sprawling shrine complex.

The Supreme Court-appointed panel to prepare an inventory of articles in the inner chambers today gave indications that the process might take more time than initially expected as the treasures surpassed everyone’s imagination.

Since the exercise started on Monday, three cellars have been examined fully and the list of articles found prepared.

Preparation of inventory of articles found in the fourth chamber, which revealed a stunning range of precious articles estimated to be worth Rs 50,000 crore.

Two more chambers will be unlocked in the coming days, sources said.

A panel member, who did not want to be identified, told that the whole process was a painstaking one as utmost care has to be paid to each article taken out, considering their intrinsic and heritage value.

“We cannot simply take them and keep them anywhere. We take each item, clean it, re-arrange it and keep it in a safer place after sealing. Details of this process cannot be revealed due to security concerns,” he said.

“So, the process of enlisting all the articles will take time and we cannot say when the inventory will be completed,” he said.

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.

Though the panel members had made it clear that assessing the monetary value of the articles was not their task, temple sources said the articles taken out and listed so far were worth thousands of crores of rupees.

[Osiris]

Thiruvananthapuram: The seven-member team deputed by the Supreme Court reportedly discovered a treasure trove of gold and diamonds worth Rs 50,000 crore in one of the two secret vaults of the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple .One of the chambers opened yesterday was said to have been remained shut for 130 years. 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 hertiage and intrinsic value. Though the panel members had made it clear that assessing the monetary value of the articles was not their task, temple sources said the articles taken out and listed so far were worth thousands of crores of rupees.

[Osiris]

Gold coins dating back thousands of years, gold necklaces as long as nine feet and weighing about 2.5 kg, about one tonne of the yellow metal in the shape of rice trinkets, sticks made of the yellow metal, sack full of diamonds, gold ropes, thousands of pieces of antique jewellery studded with diamonds and emeralds, crowns and other precious stones lay scattered in the chamber marked 'A'.

Friday threw up far more surprises in the form of 17 kg of gold coins dating back to the East India Company period, 18 kg of coins from Napolean's era, precious stones wrapped in silk bundles besides over 1,000 kg of gold in the form of coins and trinkets and a small elephant made of the yellow metal, sources said.

[SpArK]

The treasure is worth more worth than forex reserves of many countries.

Rich Travancore.

[Osiris]

links

Kerala temple treasure could be worth 50K crore - Indian Express

Kerala temple treasure could be worth 50K crore - Express India

[SpArK]

may be this is why Sir C.P.Ramaswamy want to create travancore as a country

Original Post By Osiris

But he met with a sad experience.

Hey even Roman coins weighing for many kilos were found. I am wondering how much the royal family has in possession with them.

[Osiris]

But he met with a sad experience.

Hey even Roman coins weighing for many kilos were found. I am wondering how much the royal family has in possession with them.

Original Post By SpArK

yup he was stabbed by a great comrade K.C.S. Mani..

but interesting thing is kings of travancore led a simple life ,with all these treasures in hand

[JanjaWeed]

wow.. that is a lot of treasure!! Used to read these kinda stuff only in 'chandamama' or 'bombemane'!

[SpArK]

yup he was stabbed by a great comrade K.C.S. Mani..

but interesting thing is kings of travancore led a simple life ,with all these treasures in hand

Original Post By Osiris

But the assets are very high that they dont want anything from the treasure.

[Osiris]

interesting question is what will happen to this treasure,IB issued warning to state government ,now security is beefed up

[Skull and Bones]

$10 billion is the present net values of the asset, archaeological value will be immense, probably more than $25 billion.

[SpArK]

interesting question is what will happen to this treasure,IB issued warning to state government ,now security is beefed up

Original Post By Osiris

Even i dont think its safe to keep it inside temple.

As you know the area near the temple is heavily populated and it would be embarrassing to see security breached.

[SpArK]

$10 billion is the present net values of the asset, archaeological value will be immense, probably more than $25 billion.

Original Post By Skull and Bones

Thats 2 times MRCA...

[Skull and Bones]

Thats 2 times MRCA...

Original Post By SpArK

Yup, we can get 250 EFTs.