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Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple
Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is at famous Lord Vishnu temples of Kerala. The
recent discovery which has come to the limelight following discovery of the huge
wealth, mind boggling treasure at the Padmanabha Temple has catapulted its fame to
India’s richest temple. The treasures found from cellars of the temple are estimated to be more than Rs 1 lakh crore.
Temple deity
The main temple deity, Sree Padmanabhaswamy, is a form of Vishnu in Anananthasayanam posture or in eternal sleep and so it is also known as
Sree Ananda Padmanabhaswamy Temple. The idol of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is made up of 12008 salagramams
that compose the reclining lord. They are from Nepal, from the banks of river Gandhaki and they were brought to the
temple with all pomp and gaiety on elephant top.
Sree Padmanabhaswamy a form of Vishnu in Anananthasayanam posture or in eternal sleep
Temples architecture
The temple has a 100-foot, seven-tier ‘gopuram’ or temple tower besides a corridor with 365 and one-quarter granite stone pillars with elaborate carvings.
On top of them "Katusarkara Yogam", Navaratnams, a special Ayurvedic mix, was used to give a plaster.
Wealth of temple
There are a total of six vaults marked from A to F. Two of these haven't
been opened since 1872 and were rumored to contain valuables worth crores. The C, D and E cellars were opened and their inventory was
prepared recently.While four of the temple chambers are opened during special occasions, Chamber A and B remained unopened for over 150 years.
One report talks of 450 golden pots, 2,000 rubies and jewel-studded crowns, 400 gold chairs and the statue of a deity studded with 1,000
diamonds. Officials found "four chests made of brass which contained old coins"; a "granary-like thing"
full of gold and silver coins; gold pots; and a six-chamber wooden chest full of diamonds, rubies, emeralds and other precious stones. They also
found more than 300 gold pots. The 1931 report talks about four such cellars.
Apparently, all this amounted to 65 "treasure sacks" which could be worth some $20bn - more than India's annual education budget.
The people who were sent to value the riches have been told to submit the inventory and its value to the court.
Prof Narayanan said the "Mathilakam
Documents" preserved in the temple premises show that the entire wealth kept in the chambers were offerings
received from various dignitaries and royal families from all over the globe.
"Munroe, a governor of the British province made an offering in the form
of a golden umbrella," said Princess Gouri Lakshmi Bayi. CP Nair who has studied all the legal records of Sree Padmanabha Swamy
Temple pointed out that the covenantworked out by Sir C P Ramaswamy Aiyer, the then Constitutional Advisor to the Maharaja has made it clear
that the Temple belongs to the TravancoreRoyal Family.
The treasure estimated to be worth Rs 200,000 crore found in secret
chambers at the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple at Thiruvananthapuram belongs to Lord Padmanabha and nobody including the government has any right to
them, according to senior bureaucrats, eminent historians and spiritual leaders.
"All precious stones, ornaments and other materials found in the
chambers opened as per the directive of the Supreme Court are well documented. Each and every material has been accounted for and there is
no confusion about the ownership. They all belong to Lord Padmanabha, the deity of the Travancore Royal
Family," Prof MGS Narayanan, eminent historian and former chairman of the Indian Council for Historical Research told
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History
“There are records indicating offerings made by Raja Raja Cholan and
Krishna Devaraya of the Vijayanagaram Empire in 910 Ad.” says R Ramachandran
Nair, former chief secretary Kerala. According to the historians, the foundation of the famed temple was
first laid in the year 1556. Later, the temple was re-built under the
instruction of the then king Marthanda Varma (1706–1758) in the first half of the 18th century.
The temple has been maintained by the royal family of Travancore whose
headquarters are situated near the residence of the Kerala governor. All Maharajas who ruled Travancore were known as Padmanabha Daasa. .
Members of the erstwhile royal family had dedicated their kingdom to the deity and pledged that they will live as
servants of Padmanabha.
“This is a custom which dates back to 1750. On January 17, 1750, Anizham
Thirunal Marthanda Varma, the then Maharaja, along with members of the royal family and his ministers proceeded to the Temple and he laid the
state sword before the deity handing over the territory of Travancore to Sree Padmanabha. Ever since the people of Travancore have regarded the
State as Sree Padmanabha’s possession and the king as his servant,” said
Uthradam Thirunal Marthanda Varma. It has historically been a royal temple, but offerings to the Lord
Vishnu, in the form of gold and jewellery, have come not just from Travancore kings and other Kerala royalty but millions of ordinary devotees.
Historians, like MG Sasibhooshan who has written a history of the temple, say it is no surprise that the Sree Padmanabhaswamy is a rich
temple. In 1933, Emily Gilchrist Hatch wrote a travel guide for Travancore. She recorded that the "temple had a vast amount of wealth lain in vaults".
Supreme Court bars opening of Padmanabhaswamy temple vaults
The Supreme Court on July 7, 2011 restrained the seven-member committee from
opening vaults of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, which according to various estimates contains wealth worth over
Rs. 1 lakh crore. A bench of justices R.V. Raveendran and A.K. Patnaik asked the
petitioner Raja Marthanda Varma, erstwhile Prince of Travancore, and the Kerala government to come out with appropriate suggestions for ensuring
sanctity and security of the ancient temple. The apex court while restraining the opening of vault (B) and also the
vault (A) posted the matter for further hearing on next Thursday.
During the arguments, senior counsel K.K. Venogopal, appearing for the
erstwhile prince, clarified that the temple was a public property and no member of the royal family claims any ownership or right over the huge
property. The royal family which is the trustee of the temple has challenged the
Kerala government’s decision to take over the administration of the temple which was earlier upheld by the Kerala High Court.
The apex court, during the last hearing on July 6, had directed
videography of the ongoing unearthing of treasure trove inside the chambers of the temple.
The bench had proposed the appointment of a curator of a museum to
preserve the treasure being unearthed from the centuries-old temple in Kerala. The court had also barred the observer, supervising the unearthing of
the temple’s treasure, from giving any interview of the process, saying
the matter is related to the state.
While hearing the petition, the court had directed that “there shall be
a detailed inventory of the articles, valuables and ornaments found from the temple’s treasure trove.” |
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