Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Thiruvananthapuram – Temple Assets & Treasures

Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Thiruvananthapuram – Temple Assets & Treasures

The temple and its assets belong to Lord Padmanabhaswamy, and were for a long time controlled by a trust, headed by the Travancore Royal family. However, for the present, the Supreme Court of India has divested the Travancore Royal Family from leading the management of the temple. T P Sundararajan's litigations changed the way the world looked at the Temple. In June 2011, the Supreme Court directed the authorities from the archaeology department and the fire services, to open the secret chambers of the temple for inspection of the items kept inside.

The temple has six hitherto known vaults (Kallaras), labeled as A to F, for book keeping purpose by the Court (Since, however, an Amicus Curie Report by Justice Gopal Subramaniam, in April 2014, has reportedly found two more further subterranean vaults that have been named G and H). While vault B has been unopened over centuries, A was possibly opened in the 1930s, and vaults C to F have been opened from time to time over recent years.

The two priests of the temple, the 'Periya Nambi' and the 'Thekkedathu Nambi', are the custodians of the four vaults, C to F, which are opened periodically. The Supreme Court had directed that "the existing practices, procedures, and rituals" of the temple be followed while opening vaults C to F and using the articles inside, while Vaults A and B would be opened only for the purpose of making an inventory of the articles and then closed. The review of the temple's underground vaults was undertaken by a seven-member panel appointed by the Supreme Court of India to generate an inventory, leading to the enumeration of a vast collection of articles that are traditionally kept under lock and key.

A detailed inventory of the temple assets, consisting of gold, jewels, and other valuables is yet to be made. While vault B remains unopened, vaults A, C, D, E and F were opened along with some of their antechambers. Among the reported findings, are a three-and-a-half feet tall solid pure golden idol of Mahavishnu, studded with hundreds of diamonds and rubies and other precious stones. Also found were an 18-foot-long pure gold chain, a gold sheaf weighing 500 kg (1,100 lb.), a 36 kg (79 lb.) golden veil, 1200 'Sarappalli' gold coin-chains that are encrusted with precious stones, and several sacks filled with golden artifacts, necklaces, diadems, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, gemstones, and objects made of other precious metals.

Ceremonial attire for adorning the deity in the form of 16-part gold Anki weighing almost 30 kilograms (66 lb.), gold coconut shells studded with rubies and emeralds, and several 18th century Napoleonic era coins were found amongst many other objects. In early 2012, an expert committee had been appointed to investigate these objects, which include lakhs of golden coins of the Roman Empire, that were found in Kottayam, in Kannur District. According to Vinod Rai, the former Comptroller-and-Auditor-General (CAG) of India, who had audited some of the Temple records from 1990, in August 2014, in the already opened vault A, there is an 800 kg (1,800 lb.) hoard of gold coins dating to around 200 B.C, each coin priced at over Rs 2.7 crore (US$390,000).

Also found was a pure Golden Throne, studded with hundreds of diamonds and other fully precious stones, meant for the 18-foot-long Deity. According to varying reports, at least three, if not more, solid gold crowns have been found, studded with diamonds and other precious stones. Some other media reports also mention hundreds of pure gold chairs, thousands of gold pots and jars, among the articles recovered from Vault A and its antechambers. This revelation has solidified the status of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple as the wealthiest place of worship in the world. It is conservatively estimated that the value of the monumental items is close to Rs 1.2 lakh crore or Rs 1.2 trillion (US$17 billion). If the antique and cultural value were taken into account these assets could be worth ten times the current market price.

These estimates were on the basis of the revelations since July 2011, when five vaults were opened, with the at least one remaining vault (B), which is the largest, still closed. One of the oldest existing estimates regarding Vault B, which can be considered to be at least as reliable as any other made since the discovery of the hidden treasure (or assets) of the Temple in 2011, was by the Travancore Royal Family itself in the 1880s (when an older existing estimate was updated). According to it, the gold and precious stones contained in Vault B, which is by far the largest and the only vault (of the reported six) that is unopened so far, since the discovery of the treasure, were worth Rs 12,000 crore (US$1.7 billion).

Considering the subsequent inflation of the rupee, and the increase in the prices of gold and precious metals and precious stones since in general, the treasure in the unopened vault B alone, would be worth at least Rs 50 trillion (US$730 billion) in present-day terms, without the cultural value being factored in. As a reference, the entire GDP (revenues in all forms) of the Mughal Empire at its very zenith under Aurangzeb (in 1690), was a comparatively meagre US$90 billion in modern-day terms. In fact, at its richest, the Mughal "treasury" (in Akbar's and Jahangir's and Shah Jahan's periods) consisted of seven tonnes of gold, along with eighty pounds of uncut diamonds, a hundred pounds each of rubies and emeralds and six hundred pounds of pearls. 

Also, in contrast, the wealthiest Nizam of Hyderabad, Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII, was worth a relatively minuscule Rs 600 crore (US$87 million) (all his conceivable assets combined) in the 1940s, while his entire treasure of jewels, would be worth between US$150 Million and US$500 million variously in today's terms. The hitherto-uncovered treasure itself is worth millions of times that of the so-called British crown jewels. Even with only the five smaller of the reported eight vaults being opened (the larger three vaults and all their ante-chambers still remaining closed), the treasure found so far, is considered to be by far the largest collection of items of gold and fully precious stones in the recorded history of the world.

The valuables are believed to have been accumulated in the temple over several thousands of years, having been donated to the Deity (and subsequently stored there), by various Dynasties like the Cheras, the Pandyas, the Travancore Royal Family, the Kolathiris, the Pallavas, the Cholas and many other Kings in the recorded history of both South India and beyond, and from the rulers and traders of Mesopotamia, Jerusalem, Greece, Rome, and later, the various colonial powers from Europe, and other countries as well. Some people have suggested that a part of the stored riches reached the Travancore kings in the later years in the form of tax as well as conquered wealth of other South Indian kingdoms. 

Most scholars however believe that this was accumulated over thousands of years, given the mention of the Deity and the Temple in several extant Hindu Texts, the Sangam Tamil literature (500 BC to 300 AD wherein it was referred to as the "Golden Temple" on account of its then unimaginable wealth), and the treasures consist of countless artifacts dating back to the Chera, Pandya and Greek and Roman epochs. The ancient late-Tamil-Sangam epic Silapathikaram (c 100 AD to 300 AD at the latest) speaks of the then Chera King Chenkuttuvan receiving gifts of gold and precious stones from a certain 'Golden Temple' (Arituyil-Amardon) which is believed to be the Padmanabhaswamy Temple.

Gold had been panned from rivers as well as mined in Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur, Wayanad, Mallappuram, Palakkad and Kollam districts for thousands of years. The Malabar region (as a part of the "Tamilakam" region of recorded history) had several centers of trade and commerce since the Sumerian Period ranging from Vizhinjam in the South to Mangalore in the North. Also, at times like the invasion by Tipu Sultan, the other then related royal families (of the Travancore Royal Family) in Kerala and the extreme Southern region (like the Kolathiris), took refuge in Thiruvananthapuram, and stored their temple-wealth for safekeeping in the Padmanabhaswamy Temple.

Also, much of the treasures housed in the much larger and as-yet-unopened vaults, as well as in the much smaller cellars that have been opened, date back to long before the institution of the so-called Travancore Kingdom, e.g. the 800 kg (1,800 lb.) hoard of gold coins from 200 B.C that was mentioned by Vinod Rai. Noted archaeologist and historian R. Nagaswamy has also stated that several records exist in Kerala, of offerings made to the Deity, from several parts of Kerala. Lastly, it has to be remembered that in the Travancore Kingdom, a distinction was always made between the Government (State) Treasury (Karuvelam), the Royal Family Treasury (Chellam), and the Temple Treasury (Thiruvara Bhandaram or Sri Bhandaram).

During the reign of Maharani Gowri Lakshmi Bayi, hundreds of temples that were mismanaged in the Kerala region, were brought under the Government. The excess ornaments in these temples were also transferred to the Vaults of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple. Instead the funds of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple were utilized for the daily upkeep of these temples. On 4 July 2011 the seven-member expert team tasked with taking stock of the temple assets decided to postpone opening of Chamber 'B'. This chamber is sealed with an iron door with the image of a cobra on it and it has not been opened, due to the belief opening it would result in much misfortune. 

The royal family said that many legends were attached to the temple and that chamber B has a model of a snake on the main door and opening it could be a bad omen. The seven-member team will consult with some more experts on 8 July 2011 and then they may take the final decision on opening of chamber 'B'. An Ashtamangala Devaprasnam conducted in the Temple to discern the will of the Lord revealed that any attempts to open Chamber 'B' would cause Divine displeasure and that the holy articles in the other chambers were defiled in the inventorying process. The original petitioner whose court action led to the inventory taking, T.P. Sundarajan, died in July 2011, adding credence to those who believe in the folklore around the temple. 

Prior to this now-famous incident in July 2011, one of the several vaults in the Temple which was not any of the Vaults B (untouched after the 1880s) or G or H (both rediscovered supposedly by the Amicus Curie only in mid-2014), was opened in 1931. This was possibly an antechamber of any of the Vaults A or C or D or E or F that may not have been opened yet. This was necessitated due to the severe economic depression that India was going through as was the entire world. The Palace and State Treasuries had run almost dry. The small group of people including the King and the priests found a granary-sized structure almost full of mostly gold and some silver coins and jewels.

Surmounted on top of it were hundreds of pure gold pots. There were four coffers filled with gold coins as well. Also found was a larger chest fixed to the ground with six sections in it. They were full of gold jewelry encrusted with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds. Besides these, were four more chests of old coins (not of gold), and they were carried back to the Palace and State Treasuries for counting from.

Mythology behind Vault B:

The southwest part of the Chuttuambalam (circumambulatory path around the sanctum over ground) was constructed at the holy spot where Lord Balarama is believed to have donated cows to holy men. This portion is now known as Mahabharatakonam. The Kallara (Vault) B happened to be already situated under Mahabharatakonam. According to a popular legend, many Devas and Sages met Lord Balarama when he was on pilgrimage to Thiruvananthapuram, on the banks of Padmateertham. They requested him that they may be permitted to reside there, worshiping Lord Padmanabha.

Balarama granted them their wish. It is believed that these Devas and Sages thereafter reside in Kallara B worshipping the Lord and guarding the wealth of precious metals and precious stones stored there. Naga Devathas devoted to the Lord also dwell in this Kallara. Kanjirottu Yakshi, whose enchanting and ferocious forms are painted on the south-west part of the main Sanctum, resides in this Kallara worshipping Lord Narasimha. Holy objects like Sree Chakram were installed beneath this Kallara to enhance the potency of the Principal Deity.

Lord Ugra Narasimha of Thekkedom is said to be the Protector of Kallara B. There is a serpent's image on Kallara B indicating danger to anyone who opens it. A four-day Ashtamangala Devaprasnam conducted in August 2011 declared Kallara B as forbidden territory. In 2011, the antechamber to Kallara B was opened by the Observers appointed by the Supreme Court of India. But the Observers could not open Kallara B. However, Gopal Subramaniam in his report submitted to the Supreme Court in April 2014, recommended its opening after conducting another Devaprasnam.

The two Pushpanjali Swamiyars are the highest spiritual dignitaries of Padmanabha Swamy Temple. The Pushpanjali Swamiyar of Naduvil Madhom sent letters to the Chairperson of the Administrative Committee and the Executive Officer on February 8, 2016 expressing his strong opposition to the opening of Kallara B. The Pushpanjali Swamiyar of Munchira Madhom led a Ratha Yathra from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram in May 2018 campaigning against opening the sacred Kallara. Azhvanchery Thamprakkal, the supreme spiritual leader of Kerala Brahmins, while addressing a meeting held in connection with the Ratha Yathra also demanded that faith should not be trampled upon by opening Kallara B.

According to folklore, Padmanabhan Thambi, arch rival of Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma, marched to Thiruvananthapuram with his forces and tried to loot the vaults of the Temple. Thambi stayed at Sri Varaham and sent his mercenaries to Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple. It is said that divine serpents materialized in hundreds and scared away Thampi's men. Emboldened by this heavenly intervention, Pallichal Pillai and local people opposed Padmanabhan Thambi and ensured that the mercenaries did not proceed with the misadventure.

It is highly unlikely that Kallara B was opened after the 1880s. An article by Emily Gilchrist, a visiting Englishwoman in the 1933, recalls in her book 'Travancore: A Guide Book for the Visitor' (Oxford University Press, 1933) about an unsuccessful attempt to open one Kallara in 1908: "About 25 years ago, when the State needed additional money, it was thought expedient to open these chests and use the wealth they contained." "A group of people" got together and attempted to enter the vaults with torches. When they found the vaults "infested with cobras" they "fled for their lives.

Controversies:

The Kerala High Court ruled in 2011 that the state government should take over the control of the temple and its assets, but the Travancore royal family appealed to the Supreme Court. An independent report was commissioned, and was completed in November 2012, finding no evidence that the royal family were expropriating the treasures. As of end-April 2016, vaults B, G, and H along with their several ante-chambers were yet to be opened; while inventorying of the items in vaults C, D, E, and F were completed (in August 2012) and formal inventorying of vault A had commenced. 

Several hundred pots and other items made of gold, that are used for daily rituals or intermittently for ceremonies in the Temple, were not inventoried as the Temple-priests expressed strong objections. Over 1.02 lakh 'articles' had been retrieved from Vault A and its ante-chambers, till that point, though only a small part of them had been inventoried then. An 'article' could be either an individual item, or collections of several items, examples of the latter being a cache of 1,95,000 'Rassappanams' (Gold coins) weighing 800 kg and sets of Navaratnas (collections of nine different kinds of diamonds). There are over 60,000 fully precious stones, set as parts of larger pieces of gold Jewellery, amongst those items inventoried as of March 2013.

The results of the inventory are not to be released until the completion of the whole process by order of the Supreme Court of India. In April 2014, Amicus Curiae advocate Gopal Subramaniam filed a 577-page report to the Supreme court of India alleging malpractices in the administration of the temple. According to him, the authorities failed to perform their ethical duties by opening many bank accounts, trusts and also not filing Income Tax returns for the past ten years. He alleged that Vault B was opened despite a previous ruling of the Supreme court prohibiting the same.

The report states, "The large amount of gold and silver, the discovery of which was a shock to the Amicus Curiae, is a singular instance of mismanagement. The presence of a gold plating machine is also yet another unexplained circumstance. This discovery raises a doubt of the organized extraction by persons belonging to the highest echelons. There appears to be resistance on the part of the entire State apparatus in effectively addressing the said issues. The lack of adequate investigation by the police is a telling sign that although Thiruvananthapuram is a city in the State of Kerala, parallelism based on monarchic rule appears to predominate the social psyche."

The Supreme court bench comprising justice R. M. Lodha and justice A. K. Patnaik ordered a change in administration by forming a 5-member committee and appointing Vinod Rai as auditor. The committee will include Thiruvananthapuram District judge K. P. Indira, Thantri and Nambi of the temple and two members to be decided in consultation with the Government of Kerala. Additionally, IAS officer and former administrator of the temple, K. N. Satish was appointed as executive officer. The Government of Kerala agreed to comply with the Supreme court order.

Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma remains the trustee of the temple and still does the ritual duties as the titular Maharaja of Travancore, but has no responsibility regarding the temple management after the interim ruling by the Supreme Court. The report also found the existence of two more vaults that were never even made mention of or hitherto spoken about. The report named them Vault 'G' and Vault 'H'. Like Vault 'B' and all its antechambers, both these vaults and their antechambers were yet to have been opened, as of May 2014. The report also mentions that Mr. Subramanian found several large trunks filled with artifacts made of precious metals and precious stones outside of the eight vaults and their antechambers.

The CBI and the Intelligence Bureau have red-flagged the appointment of Gopal Subramaniam as a Judge in the Supreme Court. The IB cites Mr. Subramaniam's report on Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple as one of the instances where he relied heavily on his spiritual instincts rather than rational logic and hard facts. In his second report on Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple, Mr. Subramaniam himself reveals, "It was his morning ritual of his mind and seeking guidance, which resulted in discoveries in this direction.”

The Amicus Curiae has also been accused of conducting poojas in the Temple in violation of its customs. He performed poojas at the Thevarappura in the Temple and in front of the Vedavyasa Shrine. Despite opposition from the Royal Family and the Tantries of the Temple, he pulled out a stone Yantra from the nearby Marthandan Madhom Palace and did pooja on it for several days. The Tantries explained that the Yantram had no connection with the Padmanabhaswami Temple and that it was for the protection of the Palace.

But the Amicus Curiae insisted on having it installed in the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Temple. Due to severe opposition from the Tantries the Yantram remains where it was. Every morning, Lord Padmanabha is to be awakened only by blowing the conch shell and chanting the Sripada Sooktham. But the Amicus Curiae introduced the daily rendering of Venkatesa Suprabhatham to awaken the Lord. The Supreme Court requested the Tantri to take the final decision on whether the Suprabhatham could be sung.

Following that, the Senior Tantri Nedumpilli Tharananalloor Parameswaran Namboothiripad directed the Temple authorities to stop the chanting of Suprabhatham forthwith as it was causing 'Anya Mantra Yajana Dosham' (affliction due to worshipping the Deity with incompatible mantras) to the Presiding Deity and the Temple. As atonement for this Dosham, the Tantri wants Vedic scholars to chant 12 'muras' each of Rig Veda and Yajur Veda. In his first report to the Supreme Court, the Amicus Curiae directed the Tantries to examine whether a Sri Yantra can be installed in the Sanctum Sanctorum in front of the Utsava moorthi.

According to a report by Comptroller and Auditor General of India Vinod Rai, records shared with him show that Kallara B has been opened a number of times in recent decades: twice in 1991 and five times in 2002. Once Vinod Rai's report was out, Princess Aswathi Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi clarified that Mr. Rai was referring to the outer Vault of Kallara B, which was opened even in 2011 by the Supreme Court-appointed observers.