Rs. 50,000 cr worth treasure in Kerala temple
Ananthakrishan G, TNN
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The legend of El Dorado was definitely not set on the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple. But
the seven-member panel, which is drawing up a list of assets at the
famed shrine here, had a feel of the lost city of gold as they set foot
in one of the two secret vaults located inside the sprawling granite
structure which gives the Kerala capital its name.
On Thursday, the team assisted by
personnel from the fire services and archeology department opened the
locks of vault A to find a narrow flight of stairs leading down to an
underground granite cellar. Oxygen was pumped frequently into the
chamber and artificial lighting provided to enable the observers to work
inside.
What they saw inside was startling,
sources said. 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 IndiaCompany
period, 18 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.
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king Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma. There are a total of six vaults marked A to F in the shrine. The A and B cellars have never opened since 1872.
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There were also sovereigns bearing the 1772 seal indicating they were from the reign of the then native …………………….
Reports said the value of the
recoveries so far from vault A alone may exceed over Rs 50,000 crore.
This doesn’t take into account their antique value. With chamber B, yet
to be opened, speculation was rife that the shrine would pip Tirupati
Balaji, who too has been assessed at a little more than Rs 50,000 crore
to a distant second. No official confirmation has been forthcoming on
the value of the recoveries.
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Asked about the value of the assets,
Justice Krishnan said the committee was drawing up the inventory of
items and were not determining their price. The panel had set out on the
job on June 27 and opened three vaults marked C, D and F till
Wednesday. Assets found in these chambers were estimated to be worth
over Rs 1,000 crore.
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The wealth discovery has raised
questions on the shrine’s security. As of now, the internal security is
managed by the temple employees, but this may be inadequate in the light
of the events.
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GOD’S OWN WEALTH
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* Gold coins dating back thousands of
years, gold necklaces as long as 9 feet and weighing 2.5 kg; one tonne
of gold in the shape of rice trinkets; sticks made of gold, sack full of
diamonds, gold ropes and thousands of pieces of jewellery studded with
diamonds and emeralds.…
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* 17 kg of gold coins dating back to the East India Company period;
18 coins from Napolean’s era, precious stones wrapped in silk bundles
besides over 1,000 kg of gold in form of coins and trinkets and a small
elephant made of gold.………………….
* The value of recoveries from vault A alone may exceed over Rs 50,000 cr. With chamber B yet to be opened, speculation is rife the shrine would pip Tirupati Balaji’s assets, which too has been assessed at over Rs 50,000 crore.
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