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Can you ever imagine that the richest Hindu temple in the world with a huge asset base worth over Rs one lakh crore (the antique value is not taken into account) in the form of gold, silver and diamonds had unprecedented financial crisis and sought the help of the Kerala Government last June to get over the financial mess? The temple wanted a soft loan to meet the initial financial commitments.
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| Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple treasures, India. twitter.com |
Located in the prime area of the capital city Sree Padmanabhaswamy is the tutelary deity of the royal family of Travancore, one of the richly cultured royal families in India. First king Marthanda Varma (1729-1758) donated the entire riches and surrendered to Lord Padmanabha after a war with Dutch colonial forces in Kolachhal (Tamil Nadu now). Since then the ruler until travancore joined the indian union had ruled the land as God's dasa (servant). It was he who renovated the temple and had a huge idol - 18 ft tall made of 12,008 Salagrama stones from banks of Nepal’s Gandhaki river. The stones were strung together using unique Ayurveda mix.Here Sri Vishnu is in a reclining posture on the coiled bed of Adi Shesha, the serpent.
Since Covid pandemic, the temple's earnings had come down and the state government sanctioned a loan of Rs 2 crore to be returned in an year's time, Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma, of the royal family is the trustee of the temple. With about 200 employees- both permanent and temporary, besides pensioners the huge temple before the pandemic had spent roughly Rs one crore to run the administration with a decent revenue it was able to manage. After the advent of COVID-19 pandemic things went awry. Hence the temple authorities knocked on the doors of the state government for financial help.
Temple officials are worried that they monthly need Rs1.50 crore for maintenance, salary of the staff, etc. The richest temple is in a financial mess because the temple's gold, silver, diamond jewelry, coins, idols, etc can not be sold and converted into cash. Nor can they be shifted from the several underground vault and deposited with the central government ie. Reserve Bank of India. 'As it is god's wealth, it should not be touched'.
To a few experts who examined the vast treasures in the vault, 'it was like being in a different world - may be reminiscent of the mythical city of Eldorado. Nether guarded by Griffin nor by mischievous Leprechauns, presently the treasures are continuously being monitored by 250 commandos around the temple. It also , included underground scanners, CCTVs and bollards which were erected around the temple to tighten security. Thanks to the state government which said in the recent past that the temple had to meet its security bill as it was already cash-strapped. The Union government came to the rescue and allocated Rs. 100 crore to develop infrastructure around the temple under Swadesh Darshan program.
First brought to light after opening of the A vault on June 27, 2011 following the SC directive, the underground treasures made the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple the richest one in the world. The six vaults were code named “A to F.” Among these,E & F are opened regularly for daily poojas and C & D for occasional festivals according to the temple staff. A and B are considered secret and sacred ; though A was opened under Court order B vault is not yet opened as of today for certain reasons.
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| Padmanabaha Swami temple Kerala, Vault B not yet opened vocal.media |
Though all opened vaults were examined, tagged and valued, the details were not given to the public for reasons of security. So the exact official estimate of the treasures in the subterranean vaults is not yet known, It could be more than one lakh crore plus antique value has to be added to it. B vault, it is said, may contain a bigger lot of treasures than A.
A section of communist members of the ruling party wanted the staggering and mind-boggling treasures to be used for people's welfare programs. Others wanted the treasures to be showcased in a well-guarded museum and the revenue could be used for other government programs. It may get them good revenue but they will be bogged down by security problems. The museum will need foolproof security in every aspect as many museums world over face theft, pilferage, etc.
A large section of devotees and right-wing supporters, oppose the idea of taking out the treasures from the historical temple. The items in the treasure trove of the temple are objects of adoration in a venerated and sanctified place and being Hindu temple's wealth accumulated over centuries, they are not meant for display in a public place. Nor are they just ordinary showpieces to be taken out on tour to run an exhibition showcasing the wealth and culture of Kerala.
Laying hands on the temple wealth for developmental activities is not a good proposition and is fraught with problems. The Left front government led by the communist party, without any hesitation, received ₹10 crore from the Guruvayur temple for the CM’s relief fund, but the HC forced the govt. to return it to the temple. Revenue from the temple is meant for the temple and its upkeep, etc.
As for Padmanabhaswamy temple majority of of devotees strongly believe that the temple wealth has remained intact this far because of Travancore royal family's commitment, devotion and trust in God - Vishnu who is actually the ruler of this state. Aditya Varma, erstwhile Travancore royal family member is of the opinion, “It is God’s wealth. Let it remain with the presiding deity,”
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