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Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple
Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple

Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is one of the most famous Lord Vishnu Temples in Kerala, South India. Also known as Sree Ananda Padmanabhaswamy Temple, this Mahavishnu Temple is located inside East Fort, in Thiruvananthapuram - the capital city of Kerala, India. Lord Vishnu is enshrined here in the Anananthasayanam posture (in eternal sleep of yognidra), lying on Sri Anantha, the hooded snake. According to traditions, Sree Padmanabhaswamy Kshetram is believed to have been worshipped by Chandra (Moon God) and Lord Indra (the head of the Devas).
Rs 50,000 Crore Treasure including Gold Ornaments Found in Temple

More than Rs. 50,000 Crore treasure (Nidhi in Malayalam) which included antique gold ornaments, diamonds and other precious stones, golden crown, golden bow, golden vessels, and other precious stones were found in the secret chambers (Nilavara in temple) of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The seven member panel appointed by the Supreme Court of India who were drawing up a list of assets of the ancient Lord Vishnu Temple were mesmerized by the sight of the huge treasure grove in front of them. Source said that the original value of the treasure found in the Sree Ananda Padmanabhaswamy Temple Trivandrum will be much more than Rs 50,000 Crore when calculating the price including the antiquity of the treasure found.
Some of the list of gold inventory found in the temple include golden crowns, 17 kg of gold coins dating back to the East India Company period, gold in the shape of rice trinkets weighing one tonne, 18 ft long golden necklace weighing 2.5 kg, gold ropes, sack full of diamonds, thousands of pieces of antique jewellery studded with diamonds and emeralds, and golden vessels.
According to reliable sources, the original value of the inventories found in Chamber A alone may exceed worth Rs. 50, 000 Crore. Officials are yet to open chamber B and it is believed that the total assets of Lord Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram will surely exceed the assets of the world famous Tirupati Balaji Temple in Andhra Pradesh.
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Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple could well be the richest in country

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala could well be the richest in the country as unofficial estimates Saturday, the sixth day of preparing an inventory of treasures in its six chambers, suggested the value of its gold, diamond and other precious metals at close to Rs. One lakh crore.
The inventory of the temple here, maintained by the erstwhile royal family of Travancore, is being made by a seven-member Supreme Court-appointed panel.
The stock-taking process was ordered by the Supreme Court following a petition by advocate T.P. Sundararajan over mismanagement of the temple affairs.
On Monday, ahead of entering the temple chambers for the first time, the committee chairman, retired Kerala High Court judge M.N. Krishnan, said he hoped to finish the entire process by the end of the week.
The temple has a total of six chambers, named A to F by the committee. With chamber B yet to be opened and chamber A’s accounting ending Saturday, and two more chambers left unopened yet, it is expected that the inventory process may continue for a few more days.
The inventory of a chamber opened Friday could only be completed Saturday.
The committee, which includes a gemmologist, stumbled upon a nearly four-foot-tall statue of Lord Vishnu in gold and studded with emeralds.
Other precious items that were accounted for Saturday included several golden statues, almost all weighing two kg each.
Among other things are a gold necklace as long as 15 feet, and crowns studded with emeralds, rubies and diamonds.
The chamber is situated around 20 feet under the ground. The committee conducted the examination using artificial lights. Cylinders were used to pump in oxygen to the chamber to guard against breathing problems for committee members.
The Kerala government has maintained high security at the temple after the exercise started.
City police commissioner Manoj Abraham said additional 80 personnel of the special armed police (SAP) will be posted at the temple.
Historian and veteran journalist M. Gopalakrishnan said that according to the legend the gold got accumulated in the temple because in the olden days people used to offer gold to seek pardon from the royal family.
The main temple deity, Padmanabhaswamy, is a form of Hindu god Vishnu in Anananthasayanam posture or in eternal sleep of ‘yognidra’.
The foundation of the present entrance gateway was laid in 1566 and the temple has a 100-foot, seven-tier tower besides a corridor with 365 and one-quarter sculptured granite stone pillars with elaborate carvings.
As of now, the Balaji temple in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh is believed to be the richest temple in the country, followed by Shirdi Sai Baba shrine in Maharashtra.
Last edited by minisoji; 07-26-2011 at 10:11 AM.
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Marthanda Varma
I was researching the temple history and came across an entry on Wikipedia where it says:
"Marthanda Varma, the ruler traditionally regarded as the founder of Travancore, successfully suppressed the Ettuveetil Pillais and his cousins following the discovery of conspiracies the Lords were involved in against the Royal House of Travancore. The last major renovation of the Padmanabhaswamy temple was also done by Marthanda Varma."
Does anyone wonder if he was the last to know about the treasure? I would assume things would have to get moved around in a major renovation.
I looked at his specific Wikipedia entry and it says:
"Before his death Marthanda Varma summoned his nephew and successor and gave his final instructions. The main instructions were concerning the maintenance of all the pujas, ceremonies etc. in the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple without attempts to meddle with them and to maintain above all the friendship existing between that Honourable Association (the British) and Travancore and to repose in them full confidence."
Almost as if he wanted to maintain the vaults.
He was a shrewd general in a time of turmoil. Perhaps the secret was lost with him.
In a sense, the treasure's best security was its secrecy. God only knows what is behind that last door.
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History of Padmanabhaswamy Temple

In earlier years Padmanabhaswamy Temple and its properties were controlled by eight powerful Nair feudal lords known as Ettuveetil Pillamar (Lords of the Eight Houses), under the guidance of the Council of Eight and a Half. In a battle of succession in the 18th century, King Anizham Thirunal Valiya Marthanda Varma, the ruler traditionally regarded as the founder of Travancore, successfully suppressed the Ettuveetil Pillais and his cousins following the discovery of conspiracies the Lords were involved in against the Royal House of Travancore.
The last major renovation of the Padmanabhaswamy temple was also done by Marthanda Varma. On January 3, 1750, Anizham Thirunal "surrendered" the kingdom of Travancore to Padmanabha, the deity at the temple, and pledged that he and his descendants would "serve" the kingdom as Padmanabha Dasa. Since then, the name of every Travancore King was preceded by the title Padmanabha Dasa, while the female members of the Royal family were called Padmanabha Sevinis.
The donation of the Kingdom to Sree Padmanabhaswamy was known as Thripadidanam and afterwards the Maharaja was known as Sree Padmanabha Dasa Vanchipala Varma Kulashekara Kireetapati. By surrendering the kingdom to Lord Padmanabha, the whole Travancore state became the property of Sree Padmanabhaswamy.
Last edited by minisoji; 07-26-2011 at 10:14 AM.
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Legend

There are many legends regarding the origin of the temple. One such legend says that Vilvamangalathu Swamiyar alias Divakara Muni prayed to Krishna for his darshan. Krishna came in disguise as a small, mischievous boy. The boy swallowed the Saligrama which was kept in Puja. The Sage became enraged at this and chased the boy until the boy hid himself behind a tree. The tree fell down and became Vishnu in Anantha Shayanam (reclining posture on Anantha the serpent) – but when he did so, he was of an extraordinarily large size. The Sage, recognizing that the tree was Vishnu, pleaded that because of the huge form the lord had manifested before him he could not either have a mind fulfilling darshan or circumambulate him. He then asked the Lord to shrink to a smaller proportion – thrice the length of his staff. Immediately, the idol shrank, and the Lord instructed the sage that he should be worshipped through three doors. These doors are now the doors in the temple through which the idol may be viewed. Through the first door, the worship is offered to Shiva; through the second entrance to Brahma on the Lord's lotus navel, and through the third is Vishnu's feet, which are said to lead to salvation.
Another story tells of a pulaya couple seeing Vishnu in the form of a child. The child took morsels of rice from the hands of the couple. Also it is believed that Divakaramuni, when he saw the deity, took the first food item he saw which was an unripe Mango on a coconut shell as an offering plate and performed primary pooja. To this day, the naivedyam or offering of unripe mango is offered to the deity here in the same coconut shell that Divakara Muni offered his prasadam to the Lord. Millions of devotees believe that the Lord has personally come in disguise and had saved the Travancore Kingdom from enemy attack on multiple occasions.
Last edited by minisoji; 07-26-2011 at 10:16 AM.
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Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple treasure video
Wealth of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, Kerala
A treasure worth Rs 1 lakh Crore ($ 22 billion) is found - Gold, Gems, emerald, ruby, pearls, diamonds and precious stones.
The Adv TP Sunder Rajan (1964 batch IPS officer, died at the age of 70, lived 30 m from the temple) filed a complaint in High Court of Kerala about the maintenance of temple wealth by the trustees (Travancore kings/Royal family members - Uthradam Tirunal Marthanda Varma and his younger brother Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma). The Court made an order in favour of Adv TP Sunder in Dec 2009 and direct to form a trust (Two Royal family memebrs, two public persons) and has to take charge of the temple administration. The Travancore king approached Supreme Court against the order and the Court ordered opening of the underground strong rooms for assessing the treasure of the temple.
The secret vaults with extra ordinary multiple locks were opened after a long period of 150 years under the order of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India. A 7 member team appointed by the Court is taking the stock of the temple treasure without assessing its value. The team was headed by Justice CS Rajan / MN Krishnan. Photography and Videography were not permitted.

33 m high seven tier temple tower at the entrance & the Padma Theertham temple pond
The 18th century temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu located at East fort, Thiruvananthapuram. The black statue of Lord Vishnu is 18 feet long covered with gold and other precious stones and is visible completely through 3 doors (face, navel and the feet). Secret underground narrow passage leads to the dark treasure chamber. Opening of the strong door four stone blocks will be seen. On removing the stone blocks and climb down the steps shows the treasure covered with sand, kept in copper urns in shelves. The temple treasury has 6 underground secret strong rooms (Kallaras) of which 5 are opened (A,B,C,D,E and F). The third door of the B vault was unable to open even after opening the first steel grill and the wooden door. The third iron door with a picture of snake (a cobra) on it and it has not been opened, due to the belief that a curse befalls those who attempt to open it.
27 June 2011 : Chamber C opened for stock taking
28 June 2011 : Chamber D & F opened for stock taking
29 June 2011 : Chamber A opened for stock taking (last opened in 1872)
The Supreme Court meanwhile ordered not to open the B chamber till security arrangements for the treasure found has been made. The main issue left is who will get the custody of the temple treasure ?. The final decision will be made by Supreme Court.
Incredible wealth of Indian temples
Indian temples are store houses of great treasure and is marked in the history. This treasure is solid proof that that India was the most wealthiest country in the world. India had numerous such wealthy temples with even more wealth but it was first looted by the Muslim invaders and later by the British.
Mahmud Ghaznavi looted the Somnath temple of Gujarat 17 times. Wealth worth 20-million Dinars, eighty times the already huge sum he had gained on his first invasion was carried out from India by Mahmud Ghazni in his 16th invasion of the Somnath temple in 1025 AD after a 3 days fierce battle with the brave Hindu Rajputs.
Somnath_Temple.JPG
Wealthy temple of India are - Tirupati temple, Andhra Pradesh has a stock of 12 ton gold worth 50,000 crore. Annaul Donation received worth Rs 650 Crore. Vaishnodevi temple in Jammu.

Shirdi has an annual income of Rs 300 Crore.
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Treasure in the Chambers
Treasure in the Chambers
Chamber A inventory (December 6, 1931) : gold and silver coins stored in a "granary like thing," four brass chests of coins, over 300 gold pots, and a six-chambered wooden chest containing jewels decorated with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and other precious stones. Four coffers were removed and taken to the palace treasury for counting and valuation.
More than 1200 ‘Sarappalli' golden chains (some sporting ‘navaratnas'), a gold chain weighing more than 3 kg, three golden crowns, numerous golden staffs, golden plates, a chain of golden coins of 1732 vintage diamonds, including Belgium cut diamonds, and precious stones, including ‘cat's eye', rubies and emeralds, were among the articles found inside Chamber A located on the southern side of the ‘Nalambalam' inside the Chandanamandapam.
There were no silver ornaments / blocks in the A Chamber.
Chamber B has to be opened (Bharatha kon nilavara) : Opening of the first and second door reveled Silver blocks, coins and ornaments. Opening the Chamber with serpant mark could invite the deity's wrath.
Chamber C (is frequently opened to pick items to be used for festivals and rituals) had a treasure trove of gold items including umbrellas, silver pots, gold pots, gold `varpu’ and golden utensils used for pooja. Idols of Shiva, golden serpent forms, rings and thali were also retrieved.
Treasure inventory
1. 3.5 feet high gold statue of Lord Vishnu studded with diamonds, emeralds, rubies etc worth Rs 5000 Crore
2. Gold ornaments of Lord Padmanabha - one weighs 35 kg (Statue of Lord Padmanabha is 18 feet long)
3. A number of donated gold human figurines of 1 & 2 kg each
4. A number of Gold necklaces (10 kg), 18 feet long gold necklace weighing 2.5 kg, bangles, chains, rings etc of various design types
5. Gold broom, big gold chain for elephants
6. Gold coins weighing 1000 kg : Venice gold coins 70 kg, 18th century gold coins 536 kg, Travancore gold coins 14 kg, East India Company 20 kg, Napoleonic era, Krishna deva Raya
7. Sack full of diamonds, Sack full of ruby
8. Gold sticks used by the king
9. Three gold crowns
10. Small gold elephant
11. Gold coconut shells, one studded with rubies and emeralds.
A total of 5000 kg gold

Due to the archaeological & historical importance of the treasure it is possible to display the items in hi tech security museum in future. There is also a move to add the temple in the list UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
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Temple Security
Temple Security
Cheif Minister Sri Oommen Chandy ensured the Security of the treasure will be the responsibility of the State. Kerala Police has arranged a three level security for the safety of the treasure found using Surveillance CCTV Cameras, Vibration sensors, LASER equipments and a group of trained armed personnel, Special Armed Police. High level possible security arrangements are planned by the State Government of Kerala for the temple treasure.
Police has recommended bomb blast proof steel/concrete chambers for keeping the treasure.

The pilgrims visiting the temple has been increased drastically due to the wide media publicity.
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British suspected Bose sojourned in Padmanabhaswamy temple

The Sree Padmanabh a Swamy temple here, now in the limelight for the huge treasures discovere d in its vaults, was once closely monitored at the behest of the British rulers who suspected freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose lived there secretly for a while, according to a little known archival record.
The temple was brought under surveilla nce after an anonymous letter came to the attention of a senior British official in Madras (Chennai), the Southern headquart ers of the British administr ation in pre-independence India. The letter claimed that Bose, who travelled abroad in 1941 to muster support for his anti-British struggle, returned to the country secretly and lived in disguise in the temple premises in the princely state of Travancor e.
According to a docket in the Kerala State Archives, on seeing the letter, the then British Resident for the Madras State, Lieutenan t Colonel G P Murphy, forwarded a copy of it to Dewan of Travancor e Sir C P Ramaswamy Iyer requestin g to "closely watch" the area around the grand temple.
The request was immediate ly complied with but no clue whatsoeve r of the possible visit of the Netaji, as Bose is endearing ly called by his followers and admirers, was found around the temple complex. The letter, received by British officials in Calcutta and passed on to Murphy, said "Bose is in the near vicinity of Sree Anantha Padmanabh a of Travancor e and still further in the Rameswara m side..It then continued 'he (Bose) has gone to find out the truth of Lord Sree Krishna’s teaching.'"
Murphy’s Demi-Official communication, dated February 23, 1941, quoting excerpts from the anonymous letter, was followed by some correspondences between him and Iyer on the matter, which showed how seriously the British rulers took the disappearance of Bose and his possible return to India as a far more dangerous revolutionary.
All the attempts to trace him in India have so far been not fruitful and it is still being alleged that he has gone abroad probably to secure funds with a view to organisin g in India a mass revolutio nary movement which would require considera ble funds."
That the British rulers took the matter very seriously was clear from Murphy’s words that "Bose is not unlikely to return to India (as) a very much more dangerous person than he was at the time of his departure ." He also feared that Bose might return through any of the ports in the state of Travancor e. Iyer closely followed each letter and forwarded copies to the Inspector General of Police of Travancor e to be promptly acted upon and apprised the British official of that. On March 31, 1941, Iyer wrote to Murphy that all steps had been taken for a "close watch for Bose’s (probable) arrival in the state." Though the police in the princely state searched thoroughl y all the suspected spots, including the cluster of houses where Brahmins live in close vicinity to the temple, nothing came out to substanti ate the British fears.
Last edited by minisoji; 08-16-2011 at 07:19 AM.
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