Thaindian News

Thiruvananthapuram, July 4 (IANS) A legend Monday halted for now the stocktaking at the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple here where treasures said to be worth Rs.1 lakh crore have been found.

Monday was the seventh day of knowing how much valuables were packed in the six chambers, two of them not opened for nearly 150 years. The Supreme Court had ordered the exercise.

Retired judge M.N. Krishnan told reporters that “some sort of expertise” would be needed to open chamber B.

Krishnan said a seven-member committee appointed by the Supreme Court and headed by him will meet Friday. “I have nothing more to say.”

The committee is making an inventory of the six chambers in the temple premise.

The estimated worth of the gems and jewellery found in five of the six chambers is unofficially put at a whopping Rs.1 lakh crore ($22 billion). The committee has not confirmed this figure.

The erstwhile royal family of Travanacore, which maintains the temple, believes that opening chamber B would be a bad omen.

A royal family source told IANS that many legends were attached to the temple and that chamber B has a model of a snake on the main door.

“This is a clear indication that the door should not be opened because opening it might be a bad omen. I don’t think the team can open it because there is a lot of faith attached to the temple,” said the source.

Another legend says that there is a tunnel at the bottom of the chamber that leads to the sea.

The stocktaking was ordered by the Supreme Court following a petition by advocate T.P. Sundararajan over alleged mismanagement of the temple affairs.

The team is expected to present an interim report to the Supreme Court.

Tight security arrangements are in place in the temple premises. A 24-hour police control room has been opened and round-the-clock mobile patrolling is on.