Recently, Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple at Thiruvananthapuram caught the attention of the world on reports that the temple cellar holds assets worth billions by way of coins of Roman & Nepoleon era, precious stones and jewelery. It is to be noted that major part of jewelery were ornaments to be decorated Sree Padmanabha Swamy and used on daily, monthly and annual temple rituals. Coins were offerings made by Kings of Travancore who came to pray to their deity daily and offerings made by nearby Kings and dignitaries. One cellar, believed to be not opened for centuries contained the crown known as "Kulasekhara Perumal Kireedom" which was used for crowning ceremony of Travancore Kings. As Travancore Kings never wore the crown except for the ceremony it was kept in the temple itself as a token of surrendering the kingdom to Sree Padmanabha along with jewelery and other items used for the function. The process of taking inventory of Sree Padmanabha swamy temple assets started by the order of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India on a petition filed by a devotee. Hence, the Chief Minister rightly clarified that it does not come under treasure trove act and belongs to temple alone. Some people argue that all findings is to be used for development / kept in a museum to be seen by public etc. forgetting the fact that most of the jewelery are ornaments of Sree Padmanabhaswamy and is to be used for temple rituals. Further, exhibiting all the assets that were kept securely in the cellars of the temple, to general public is not warranted for and may cause loss of precious items. Now itself non-devotees are flocking to the temple just to see the location where it is kept. Corrupt politicians (remember 2G spectrum scam and commonwealth games) hands won't spare it if given a chance to see it.
According to Hindu scriptures & practices deities are living entities(that's why deities are bathed, dressed and fed daily by priests). So, let all the assets be kept as such under more security at the premises of Sree Padmanabhaswamy itself.
