SC panel begins stock taking of holy shrine's unsealed treasure

In line with expectations, the Supreme Court-organised treasure hunt at the revered Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple at Thiruvananthapuram is coming up with a rich haul.

As already reported, there are six underground lockers at the temple, a repository of wealth donated to or possessed by the erstwhile ruling house of Travancore. Two haven’t been opened for 150 years and the other four for several decades. A panel authorised by the SC opened the smallest of the six traditional lockers yesterday.

According to preliminary estimates, the treasure inside what has been termed the ‘C’ chamber is worth about Rs 450 crore — physical value only. There were 450 gold pots each weighing a kilo, 20 traditional silver lights, around 50 other silver utensils, gold ornaments, and gold and silver received as offerings. The commission, which includes two retired high court judges, did an evaluation and recorded the weight of each of the 490-odd items listed.

The estimate isn’t official — that would be given in a sealed report to the SC.

The secret chambers are serialised from A to F. It is reported the opening and examination of the other four chambers would take time. Lockers D and F would be opened the coming Tuesday. Chambers A and B, not opened for 150 years, would be kept for the final round. Safety checks and procedures would come first.

An SC bench of judges R V Raveendran and A K Patnaik had ordered the panel to take stock of the valuables, while considering a petition that the administration of the temple should be vested with the state government. At present, the head of the erstwhile ruling house of Travancore is the custodian.