Don’t open Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple treasure vaults: Supreme Court

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The Supreme Court on Friday restrained a seven-member panel from opening two vaults of the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

While deferring the opening till July 14, a division bench comprising Justices R.V. Raveendran and A.K. Patnaik asked the erstwhile royals of Travancore, who are the trustees of Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple, and the Kerala government to give suggestions on the security, conservation and preservation aspects of the temple and the treasure recovered.

The apex court on Friday ordered that vaults A and B of the temple should not be opened till July 14, the next date of hearing in the case.

The court had appointed a seven-member panel, inclu-ding retired judges of the Kerala high court M.N. Krishnan and C.S. Rajan, as observers to supervise the unearthing of the temple’s treasure.

There are six vaults in Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, from A to F, and vault A and B are yet to be opened.

According to various estimates, treasure worth Rs 1 lakh crore has been recovered from the vaults that have been opened.

Initiating the arguments, senior counsel K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the erstwhile prince, clarified that the temple was public property and no member of the erstwhile royal family claims any ownership or right over the huge pro-perty.