Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple

[Perfection]

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.

[Perfection]

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.

[minisoji]

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.