Supreme court halts opening of Padmanabhaswamy temples last vault

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered for the halting of the last vault of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum. A bench of justices RV Raveendran and AK Patnaik asked the petitioner Raja Marthanda Varma, erstwhile the Prince of Kerala, and the Kerala government to come out with appropriate suggestions for ensuring the sanctity and the security of the ancient temple. The apex court while ordering for the halting of last vault posted the matter for further hearing on coming Thursday. During the arguments, KK Venugopal, appearing for the erstwhile Prince of Kerala, clarified that the temple of the property was a public property and no member of the royal family claims any right or ownership over the huge property. He told the Bench that the property of the temple belongs to Lord Padmanabhaswamy and said that the royal family is not claiming any ownership. It is a public temple and it is not claiming any ownership of property. The Royal Family which is the trustee of the temple has challenged the Kerala government's decision to take over the administration of the temple which was earlier upheld by the Kerala High Court. During Friday's arguments, huge security should be observed in and around the temple in view of the discovery of the huge wealth. Counsel Venugopal also clarified that the value of the treasure reportedly discovered from the temple was not authentic as there were various media speculations. The bench remarked it as they were the valuation by the media. They were newspaper valuations. The apex court on July 6th, had directed videography on the ongoing unearthing of treasure troves inside the chambers of temple. The bench had also proposed the appointment of a curator of a museum to preserve the treasure unearthed from the temple. The court had also barred the observer, supervising the unearthing of the temple's treasure, from giving any interview of the process, saying the matter is related to the state. The apex court earlier had passed an interim order on a plea filed by Rama Varma's uncle Marthanda Varma staying the high court's order for takeover of the management and assets of the temple. The court also directed for a detailed inventory of the articles, valuables and ornaments found from the temple's treasure trove. Reported by,       AR