Report: Padmanabhaswamy temple jewellery stolen, damaged

Thiruvananthapuram, Sept 5: It has been reported that a good amount of the massive treasure trove of the Padmanabha temple in Kerala has either been stolen or seriously damaged. This expose was made in a report of the advocate commissioners, on orders by the Thiruvananthapuram principal sub-judge in 2008. They had found this after the underground secret chambers were opened under the aforesaid's orders to take out the pooja utensils for the annual festival.

The commissioners who had opened the chambers then found that the 14 green-coloured stones of the thankakkuda (a golden umbrella with tassels of gold and green stones) were broken. They had opened the chambers named Vyasarcone Kallara and Nithyadi Ara.

It was also reported that 44 golden hooks of the golden umbrella with silver handle, were found missing. These hooks were replaced with cheap metal ones. After the report, the commissioner had recommended that the 11 gold articles of a large wooden box should be weighed and numbered. They also requested the deity's golden replica usually taken out for processions should be weighed for security reasons.

In a setback to the royal family, the commissioner had found that the palace representative and their lawyer had strongly opposed a move to take the sample weight of one item in each category.

OneIndia News