New post created to guard Kerala temple treasure

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Kerala on Tuesday created a new post of the rank of a superintendent of police to specifically protect the treasure estimated at Rs.1 lakh crore found in the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple here.

"We are looking into various measures on the state-of-the-art security arrangements that should be put up in the temple premises," Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting here.

The state government has posted a round-the-clock security ring around the temple since a treasure was found in five of its six chambers.

The Supreme Court last week appointed a five-member committee headed by Director General of National Museum C.V. Ananda Bose to videograph and photograph the articles found in vault A of the temple. Another three-member committee, to be headed by Justice M.N. Krishnan, was set up to oversee the operations of the experts committee.

The experts committee will categorise all the articles broadly under three heads - ornaments of historical, artistic and antique value, those which are of regular use, and those which are of monetary value only.

It will suggest steps for long-term preservation and security of the treasure and also the feasibility of setting up a high-security museum within the temple complex, the court said.