Kerala govt ready to display Padmanabhaswamy temple treasure in museum

Thiruvananthapuram, June 20:

government is ready to exhibit the treasures discovered in the cellars of the famous Sree Padmanabhaswamy

in a museum with the permission of the Supreme Court, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told assembly Wednesday.

This kind of treasure trove was "no where" in the world and preservation of treasures till date by the erstwhile Travancore royal family was a clear example of royal families conviction and trust, Chandy said during question hour.

There should be reservation while criticising the royal family, which had managed the temple affairs, he said.

Government has not received the report of the amicus curiae submitted to the Supreme Court about the alleged smuggling of temple treasures. The case was coming up in the apex court on August 6, he said, adding, the state would submit its response on the matter before that date.

Minister for Devaswom V S Shivakumar said government would take action, if necessary, on the alleged smuggling of treasures of the temple as per Supreme Court order.

The state would inform the court the cabinet decision to set up an administrative set up like in Tirupathi or Guruvvayour Temples for the management of Padmanabhaswamy temple, he said.

All necessary security has been installed at the temple as directed by the apex court. Auditing of the assets and wealth of the temple was progressing. Government would take a decision on a comprehensive law to take over the temple after Supreme Court verdict on the matter, he said.

It was during the LDF rule, the case connected with the temple started. At that time the government had given an affidavit that it would not interfere in the powers of royal family.

Though there was an order of the High Court before a new government came in May 2011 asking the regime to take over the management of the temple, the government did not act on it, he pointed out.

The Royal family went to apex court and got a stay on the High Court order, he said.

Supreme court had recently appointed former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai to audit the entire assets of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple here.

The Court had also appointed a five-member management committee, headed by additional district judge for the administration of the temple, virtually decontrolling its powers from the royal family.

PTI