Padmanabha jewels stolen, says report
A good portion of the precious jewels in the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple’s hoard of wealth had been stolen and some were seriously damaged.
This startling revelation was made in the report of the advocate commissioners, deputed by the Thiruvananthapuram principal sub-judge in 2008 to open the underground chambers of the temple and take out pooja utensils for the annual Alpasi festival.
The commissioners, who opened two chambers, namely the Vyasarcone Kallara and Nithyadi Ara, found that 14 green-coloured stones of the thankakkuda, a golden umbrella with hanging tassels made of gold and green stones, were broken. Some of the threads were missing. There were cracks in the umbrella, too.
Also, 44 golden hooks of vellippidyswarnakkuda, the golden umbrella with silver handle, were found missing.
Instead these were replaced by hooks made of other metals.
The mulapalika with intricate designs and carvings had also developed cracks.
Two of the four silver bells of the kumbheeyam were also found missing.
The commissioners recommended that the 11 gold articles stored inside the nila anki koottam, a large wooden box, should be weighed and numbered. They also wanted the chaturbahi anki, a golden replica of the deity used for processions, to be weighed for safety reasons.
The report states that the palace representative and their lawyer had strongly opposed a move to take the sample weight of one item in each category.
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