Temple Treasure : Royal Family Thrilled, Ecstatic, at Unimaginable Riches
Daijiworld Media Network – Thiruvananthapuram (SP)
Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 5: The royal family of Kerala has never had it this good, at least in the recent times. They cannot control their excitement over the sheer extent of wealth now in their possession.
The members of the lineage of Travancore royal family, who live near the temple premises and continue to run a trust that manages the temple, are surprised at the amount of wealth unearthed from the underground cellars of the temple. While they knew that the cellars contained enormous wealth, they never had an inkling that it would of such a magnitude. At the same time, worries about protecting the wealth have also overtaken the concerned.
Even though head of the royal lineage, Utradam Tirunal Martanda Verma, has refused to comment on the findings, the other members of the trust have expressed a sense of elation, thrill and surprise.
It is a matter of concern that such wealth was not found in the properties owned by the royal families elsewhere. The findings here give an indication that families of other kings and emperors in the past too would have inherited enormous wealth in this way. It is also possible that foreign invaders had looted their wealth, unlike in the case of Travancore dynasty.
It is said that the cellars were last opened in 1932, by the then Travancore Maharaja, Chittira Tirunal. At that time, the wealth was said to be worth about a crore of rupees including gold and silver coins worth Rs 50 lac. It is not clear whether all the cellars were opened then. It is rumoured that another secret cellar, identified with the name, Saraswati Konam, also exists. But no one seems to be aware of its whereabouts.
In the meanwhile, it is learnt that the committee appointed by the Supreme Court has decided not to go ahead with the opening of the remaining cellar, identified as ‘B’, for now. This cellar is expected to contain huge amount of valuables, just like the cellar ‘A’, where valuables and jewels worth about Rs 50,000 crore were found. While some rumours expect this cellar to contain lot of wealth, some others dismiss them, as they say it contains only items used for religious rituals. The seven-member committee is likely to decide about the opening of the last cellar on Friday.