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Former royals renounce Indian temple treasure

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The head of a former Indian royal family renounced any personal claim to billions of dollars’ worth of treasure discovered in a temple in the kingdom his ancestors once ruled.

Published: Fri 8 Jul 2011, 2:01 PM

Updated: Mon 17 Jul 2023, 4:29 PM

  • By
  • (AFP)

“The royal family is not claiming anything. No part belongs to the family,” said K.K. Venugopal, a lawyer representing the descendants of the erstwhile rulers of the Travancore princely state in the southern state of Kerala.

Venugopal made the statement in the Supreme Court in New Delhi, which is driving efforts to establish ownership of the sacks of gold, precious stones and jewellery found last week at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.

Venugopal said the head of the Travancore family, Marthanda Varma, believed the stunning treasure “should be used judiciously for religious and social purposes” such as building hospitals and schools.

“The artifacts may be kept in a museum independent of the temple,” he added.

The temple, dedicated to Hindu god Vishnu, was built hundreds of years ago by the king of Travancore and donations by devotees have been kept in the temple’s vaults ever since.

All but one of the vaults have been opened, with the value of the haul estimated at between 500 billion and one trillion rupees ($11-22 billion).

The discoveries catapulted the Hindu shrine, renowned for its intricate sculptures, into the league of India’s richest temples.

Since India achieved independence from Britain in 1947, a trust managed by descendants of the Travancore royal family has controlled the temple.

On Friday, the Supreme Court directed that the opening of the final vault be deferred and asked for suggestions from the state government and Varma’s family on how the treasure should be secured and preserved.

Supreme Court bars opening of temple’s sixth vault

The Supreme Court on Friday said that the sixth vault of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala will not be opened till the treasure recovered so far is properly documented.

An apex court bench of Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice A.K. Patnaik said that the the sixth vault (Kallara B) will not be opened till the treasure recovered from Kallara A is videographed, photographed and its inventory is prepared.

The court directed that the Kallara A which has been resealed, will not be reopened till arrangements are made for its videography and photography and a curator is appointed to assess the antiquity and valuation of its treasure.

The court also took note of a statement by former prince of the erstwhile kingdom of Travancore, Sree Marthanda Varma, who is the chief trustee of the temple that the former royal family has no claim over any part of the treasure found in the temple.

The temple belongs to the public and the treasure belongs to the temple deity, Varma’s counsel K.K. Venugopal added.

The court also noted the statement of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy that the government has no claim over the treasure.

The Supreme Court had appointed a seven-member committee in May, to open the vaults of the temple, which led to the discovery of huge treasure estimated to be around Rs.1 lakh crore.

There are six vaults in the temple, five of which have been opened.



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