Clarifying his government's stand on the issue of Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple assets, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Thursday said the treasure found in temple vaults belongs to the shrine and it should be kept there itself.
"The treasure unearthed from temple vaults belongs to the temple. As far as possible, it should be kept at the temple itself. This is the government's stand," Chandy told reporters here.
Welcoming today's Supreme Court order, the Chief Minister said the state government would provide all security to the temple to protect its assets.
The Supreme Court today said the vault 'B' of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple will be opened only after substantial work regarding documentation and preservation of assets unearthed from other 'kalaras' (vaults) of the shrine is completed. A bench headed by justice R V Raveendran also turned down the plea of an expert committee to hand over the security of the temple to Central paramilitary forces and directed the state government to provide foolproof cover to the temple to protect its assets which are estimated to be over Rs 1.50 lakh crore.
Chandy said a technical committee formed to give a detailed report on the new technology required for the protection of the assets will meet on Monday in his presence.