£65 Million treasure discovered in Kerala temple’s secret cellar!
The temple, which through the ages has received the patronage of the prevailing ruling families and devotees, has a unique architecture which is a beautiful fusion of different Indian styles. Even the idol of the deity in the temple is acclaimed as a marvel. The inner spaces of the idol are lined with around 12000 sacred stones said to have been brought on elephant back from the bed of a river in Nepal while the outer frame is made from the wood of medicinal plants. It is no wonder then that devotees and visitors flock in large numbers to this fascinating temple.
However, on Monday, the 27th of June 2011, the temple had some unusual visitors. A seven member team (most of them officials from the government) who were ordered by the Supreme Court of India to make an inventory list of items at the temple, arrived in the morning for what they thought would a few hours of routine work. Their orders included checking the contents of six cellars (Cellars ‘A to F’) in the temple which had always remained unopened.
The team decided to start with Cellar ‘C’.
The scene that unfolded in front of their eyes could have been straight out of a Hollywood treasure-hunt block buster - only this was real. 450 pots of gold, a golden umbrella, gold vessels, a gold stick and silver were amongst the items that literally dazzled the officials. Each of the gold pots weighed around 1.2 kilograms and are believed to be valued at approximately £130,000 each (INR 90 Lakhs). The total value of the treasure is estimated to be around £65 million (450 Crore Indian rupees)…
…And these are just the contents of Cellar C. The other five cellars in the temple are yet to be checked. Will it hold more treasures???….watch this space for more.
Whilst we might not be able to tell you about what other treasures remain undiscovered in Kerala, we can certainly give you a wealth of information (pun intended) about the region.
Call one of Kerala Travel Centre’s experts on freephone 0808 178 9799 today and we promise that you will be as amazed as we are when you discover the invaluable delights of Kerala.
admin on July 4th, 2011
Following on from our last story, the Padmanabhaswamy temple treasure recovery is now complete and the total value is estimated to be a whopping £14 Billion.This probably makes the temple the richest in India now.