Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple, Thiruvananthapuram, the richest Temple/Religious Centre in the World.

[sajith]

ശ്രീപത്മനാഭസ്വാമി ക്ഷേത്രത്തിന്റെ സുരക്ഷയ്ക്കായി 1.54 കോടി രൂപ അനുവദിച്ചു. സുരക്ഷ ശക്തമാക്കുന്നതിന്റെ ഭാഗമായി 233 പോലീസ് ഉദ്യോഗസ്ഥരെ കൂടി നിയമിച്ചുവെന്നും ദേവസ്വംമന്ത്രി വി എസ് ശിവകുമാര്* അറിയിച്ചു.

രഹസ്യക്യാമറ വാങ്ങുന്നത് ഉള്*പ്പെടെയുള്ള ചെലവുകള്*ക്കാണ് പണം അനുവദിച്ചത്. ക്യാമറ സ്ഥാപിക്കുന്നതിനുള്ള ചുമതല കെല്*ട്രോണിനാണ് നല്*കിയിരിക്കുന്നത്.

കൂടുതല്* സുരക്ഷാ ഉപകരണങ്ങള്* വാങ്ങുമെന്നും മന്ത്രി അറിയിച്ചു.
URl
http://malayalam.webdunia.com/newswo...10825055_1.htm

[Kannan46]

If we have an english translation many people will be able to appreciate the presentations.

Cheers!!!

[Ajaypp]

Originally Posted by BabuCS

Well, one cannot blame the royals for citing astrological predictions in court. The whole thing, including depositing wealth at the feet of Lord Padmanabha, as mere 'dasa' of the deity, has been driven by strong religious faith and belief in the Lord. And the court never said astrological predictions are beyond their books. Proper proceedings with strict observance of rituals followed in the temple are all what the Royal family is after.

There is no evidence to suggest that astrologers were not consulted when depositing wealth in the caves. How can you question the custodians when they consult them again when the wealth is being taken out? And speaking of science, I don't think the current 'experts' know any better science than our ancestors did, who had the wisdom to preserve the stones the way we see it today!

But to accuse the head of a royal family of theft by believing the words of a former temple employee, with out even checking the view of the accused or of temple officials, is 'thallukollitharam' to say the least.

Lol, Babu, so you suggest that the entire thing be left to a bunch of people fooling around with cowrie shells? Thankfully, the SC seems to be on the side of reason not religious dogma. Do let me know on what you base your suggestion that astrologers are better informed on matters of cultural conservancy and security than experts with decades of scientific experience. It's all good to stick to one's faith but in this day and age, it is pure folly to let that hide the rule of reason and the law.

I guess we have cluttered this thread enough, so let the matter rest here and let the Supreme Court give its directions.

[BabuCS]

Originally Posted by Ajaypp

Lol, Babu, so you suggest that the entire thing be left to a bunch of people fooling around with cowrie shells? Thankfully, the SC seems to be on the side of reason not religious dogma. Do let me know on what you base your suggestion that astrologers are better informed on matters of cultural conservancy and security than experts with decades of scientific experience. It's all good to stick to one's faith but in this day and age, it is pure folly to let that hide the rule of reason and the law.

I guess we have cluttered this thread enough, so let the matter rest here and let the Supreme Court give its directions.

I am not against the current SC intervention, or the work of the committee. All I am saying is that the royals have the right to do 'devaprashnams' or whatever rituals they want to do. If the Maharajas didn't have faith in the deity, we wouldn't be talking about this wealth in the first place!

[vinod/kakka]

VS hasnt said anything about not considering religious beliefs in court, etc. He said that the royal family is looting the temple.
For the record, I am not sure how SC is going to wiggle out of this. Will the SC send a non-Hindu into the temple? One could argue on either side of it. The SC did get itself into uncharted waters by trying to estimate the wealth of the temple.

[Ajaypp]

Originally Posted by BabuCS

I am not against the current SC intervention, or the work of the committee. All I am saying is that the royals have the right to do 'devaprashnams' or whatever rituals they want to do. If the Maharajas didn't have faith in the deity, we wouldn't be talking about this wealth in the first place!

Babu, the Royal family has the right to indulge themselves in anything legal like any other citizen of India. Just that using such superstitions to block the course of legal action is a retrograde step in the 21st Century.

[BabuCS]

Originally Posted by Ajaypp

Babu, the Royal family has the right to indulge themselves in anything legal like any other citizen of India. Just that using such superstitions to block the course of legal action is a retrograde step in the 21st Century.

Nobody can block proceedings in the SC! The royal family is only putting up arguments based on their faith. And the court never disapproved such arguments.

But our problem here is VS. He probably sees only one dimension to this wealth, he is blind (or ignorant) to see the third dimension that the wealth under question is deeply associated with the religious faith of few people.

[Ajaypp]

Originally Posted by BabuCS

Nobody can block proceedings in the SC! The royal family is only putting up arguments based on their faith. And the court never disapproved such arguments.

But our problem here is VS. He probably sees only one dimension to this wealth, he is blind (or ignorant) to see the third dimension that the wealth under question is deeply associated with the religious faith of few people.

He sees one dimension, other people see their own. Let's agree to disagree on which one is more relevant.

[RajeshVR]

Expert panel to trace history of temple treasure

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The five-member expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court, chaired by CV Anandabose, Vice-Chancellor, National Museum Institute, to asses the value of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple treasure on Friday carried out a parallel fact-finding of the temple treasure history. The panel invited an expert historian to trace the historical references of the temple in various texts and also from the materials of historical value in the temple.


It is learnt that once the historical references about the temple treasure are compiled it would be submitted before the Supreme Court. The expert committee also requested for adequate manpower and modern equipment to carry out the evaluation of the treasure. The manpower requested consist of experts from diverse fields to carry out the requisite radiography, X-ray energy spectroscopy and neutron activation analysis.

In a separate meeting held between the expert committee and the monitoring panel appointed by the Supreme Court decided to wait till September 3 to start the actual evaluation process.

The decision was taken, it is learnt, based on the suggestion that came up in the meeting that the expert panel should carry out the evaluation after the Supreme Court considers the plea filed by the Travancore Royal Family, based on the findings of the Devaprasnam.

The plea will come up for hearing on September 3.

Also, the temple administration has told the committee that it should start the evaluation only after Onam as there will be special poojas and the inflow of devotees will be on the higher side.

The expert panel repeated its request for a permanent office to hold its meeting which has proximity to the temple and the expense to meet the cost of the equipment to be purchased to the State Government.

This was the first joint meeting after the Travancore Royal Family filed a plea in the Supreme Court not to open the B chamber and also not to videograph or photograph the proceedings of the evaluation.

Express News Service.

This is a planned conspiracy to loot the temple treasure.
The committee is going to submit the report that the money came from Travancore Tax.
Finally the wealth of Our temple will be taken away.
I request all well wishers to unite together against this.

[ajithv]

Source : Metro Vaartha



Source : Mathrubhumi

[Ajaypp]

Rajesh, have you lost the plot? Please take a look at the mandate of the Committee, it makes no mention of investigating the origin of the treasure. No one is going to take anything away, let's not get down to the intellectual level of low brow Hindutva activists, shall we?

[ajithv]

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said here on Thursday that the government was of the view that beliefs should also be taken into consideration with regard to the opening of the remaining vault at Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple here.

Asked about the finding of a ‘devaprasnam' at the temple against the opening of the vault, the Chief Minister told the media that the government would communicate its views to the Supreme Court, if asked for. However, the final verdict was to be pronounced by the court.

Mr. Chandy said the government had not received any complaint about pilfering of the riches of the temple by the royal family of erstwhile Travancore. He felt that Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan should have avoided the remarks against the current head of the royal family in this regard. The fact that the riches were protected during the reign of the Travancore kings was proof of their trustworthiness.

He said the security measures at the temple would be reviewed on September 5.

Source

[RajeshVR]

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Continuing his tirade against Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma, head of Travancore royal family, Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan said that the holding of ‘devaprasnam’ could be viewed as a suspicious act on the part of the royal family to create hurdles for the Supreme Court in implementing its directives.


Lashing out at the people who are being subservient to the erstwhile royal family, at a seminar organised by Social Science Rainbow on ‘Treasure trove of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple and democratic Kerala’ here on Saturday, Achuthanandan said that the Supreme Court had ordered the preparation of inventory in all the vaults and its documentation.

However, in the guise of ‘devaprasnam’ which was done with astrologers of their own choice and without acquiring the consent of the Supreme Court, the royal family was trying to challenge the court. The ‘devaprasnam’ had very conveniently stated that the B vault should not be opened, he said.

Achuthanandan said that the royal family members must drop the use of ‘thirunal’ attached to their names. ‘’There is nothing wrong in relating stars with names. But putting it across as a royal sign and forcing others to use it is promoting a sense of slavish mentality,’’ he said.

Instead of the affixing names with ‘thirunal’, the members of the family must shift to names suitable to the democratic times, he said. In no erstwhile princely state of India does the royal relics still exist with such force like in Thiruvananthapuram, he said.

Achuthanandan said that the lower courts and the apex court had put forward their opinion in the management of the temple. The courts had said that a Trust on the model of Guruvayur Devaswom managed by devotees should be established in the place of the Trust which is now being managed by the royal family and the favourites of Marthanda Varma. However, this is yet to be done.

In 1750, Marthanda Varma had started new rituals and customs which were till then not known. It was he who introduced the concept of Padmanabha dasa. S, there is no point in saying that rituals cannot be changed and those followed in olden days should continue in modern times too, Achuthanandan said

What happened to this oldman(Kadal Kizhavan).He needs a retirement life. Hope he will not continue his opposition leadership until his last breath. He must be treated for EMI

Originally Posted by Ajaypp

Rajesh, have you lost the plot? Please take a look at the mandate of the Committee, it makes no mention of investigating the origin of the treasure. No one is going to take anything away, let's not get down to the intellectual level of low brow Hindutva activists, shall we?

Ajay you misunderstood me.

[Tri Man]

deleted...

[ajithv]

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The attempt by a Supreme Court-appointed independent panel to assess the wealth discovered in the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple has run into more rough weather.

Devotees under the banner of Sree Padmanabha Bhakta Samiti have protested the use of still cameras and video equipment to make an inventory of the jewellery and other rare artefacts recovered from the temple vaults.

"Photography and videography are strictly prohibited in temples in Kerala. The Lord's ornaments cannot be treated as mere material goods," a spokesman of the newly-formed group pointed out.

The samiti also alleged there was an attempt by certain vested interests to tinker with the beliefs and customs of the temple.

The Samiti also submitted a memorandum to the Ananda Bose Committee entrusted with the task of assessing the temple treasures.

"The faithful believe that there are priceless treasures inside the cellars of the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple, and that these were given as donations to the Lord. The devotees have never expressed a desire to see them. Publishing their details would create unnecessary chaos inside the temple and vitiate the atmosphere," the memorandum said.

Source

[kirantvm]

Originally Posted by RajeshVR

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Continuing his tirade against Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma, head of Travancore royal family, Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan said that the holding of ‘devaprasnam’ could be viewed as a suspicious act on the part of the royal family to create hurdles for the Supreme Court in implementing its directives.


Lashing out at the people who are being subservient to the erstwhile royal family, at a seminar organised by Social Science Rainbow on ‘Treasure trove of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple and democratic Kerala’ here on Saturday, Achuthanandan said that the Supreme Court had ordered the preparation of inventory in all the vaults and its documentation.

However, in the guise of ‘devaprasnam’ which was done with astrologers of their own choice and without acquiring the consent of the Supreme Court, the royal family was trying to challenge the court. The ‘devaprasnam’ had very conveniently stated that the B vault should not be opened, he said.

Achuthanandan said that the royal family members must drop the use of ‘thirunal’ attached to their names. ‘’There is nothing wrong in relating stars with names. But putting it across as a royal sign and forcing others to use it is promoting a sense of slavish mentality,’’ he said.

Instead of the affixing names with ‘thirunal’, the members of the family must shift to names suitable to the democratic times, he said. In no erstwhile princely state of India does the royal relics still exist with such force like in Thiruvananthapuram, he said.

Achuthanandan said that the lower courts and the apex court had put forward their opinion in the management of the temple. The courts had said that a Trust on the model of Guruvayur Devaswom managed by devotees should be established in the place of the Trust which is now being managed by the royal family and the favourites of Marthanda Varma. However, this is yet to be done.

In 1750, Marthanda Varma had started new rituals and customs which were till then not known. It was he who introduced the concept of Padmanabha dasa. S, there is no point in saying that rituals cannot be changed and those followed in olden days should continue in modern times too, Achuthanandan said

For Devaprashnam royal family has approached supremecourt and in the judgement they confirmed that its upto the royal family to decide on rituals to be performed in the temple.....So the royal family have the authority to conduct the same...and regards to consulting other teams...this group is one of the highly recongnised ppl and in devaprashnam they have even criticized royal family for some of the mistakes.. we have read same in papers...and another qn is why now ? .....after opening the vaults ppl worried abt what will happen next(people who is very much linked with padmanabha swamy temple knows it) ..so defenitely royal family is responsible to conduct it and find the answers for that.... so you can think eventhough royal family conducted devaprashnam...whatever reports came from devaprashnam is purely of the ppl who did it...

I am not sure how one person who is not believe n god can make comments abt devaprashnam...

" Instead of the affixing names with ‘thirunal’, the members of the family must shift to names suitable to the democratic times, he said. In no erstwhile princely state of India does the royal relics still exist with such force like in Thiruvananthapuram, he said. "

this statement above itself shows the good thing done by the royal family to trivandrum that is the reason why people of tvm still like them. About 75% of structures in tvm is developed by travancore... and i dont know why people are concerned with anothers name...we can have any name what we like right.....

One small opinion...we dont need to praise them ....but atleast we should not criticise them...for all the good job done by them.....

[RajeshVR]

Indian maharaja accused of stealing gold from £14 billion Hindu treasure trove


Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum, South India Photo: ALAMY

An Indian maharaja has been accused of stealing gold from what is believed to be the world's greatest treasure trove discovered in an ancient Hindu temple earlier this year.
The head of the Travancore royal family Maharaja Uthradam Thirunal Marthanda Varma regularly stole priceless jewellery and coins from the temple's treasure trove, which is estimated to be worth £14 billion, according to former temple employees and Kerala's former chief minister.
Archaeologists discovered gold figures, antique coins and jewels in a secret vault at Thiruvananthapuram's Lord Padmanabhaswamy Temple in southern India in July.
According to Kerala's former chief minister and current opposition leader V. S. Achuthanandan, the maharaja regularly removed gold coins from the temple during his morning prayers.
Several employees including temple security guards had reported the "thefts" to him, he said, and some of those who complained were removed from temple duties. He said he will now bring the allegations before India's Supreme Court and ask the temple authorities to explain their dismissals, he said.
"It is known public that Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple has invaluable treasure. There were complaints that the assets of Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple were lost. Petitions were received alleging that ex-Army officers who tried to prevent theft of the temple assets were even terminated from the service," he said.
His allegations were dismissed as "baseless" by the temple's executive officer, V. K. Harikumar.
"He has no evidence to prove it. No former or current employee of the temple trust has ever made any complaints or allegations. There is no question of Royal family or for that matter anyone else entering vault B and taking away gold coins," he said.
"The Royal family is yet to decide on whether to file a defamation case against V. K. Achuthanandan," he added.
The allegation is the latest twist in the controversy over the discovery of the treasure trove.
T.P. Sundara Rajan, the man who successfully petitioned the courts to open the vaults and explore their secrets, was found dead within a week of it being opened.
His fight to examine the vaults went against the wishes of their custodian, the Maharaja of Travancore, and the temple's priests.
His death brought comparisons with the so-called 'Curse of the Pharoahs' blamed for the early demise of several explorers of Tutenkhamun's tomb in 1922.
Since Mr Rajan's death, Hindu priests warned that the families of those who try to open a second vault at the temple would face tragedy, death and the "fatal ire of snakes".
The dispute began earlier this year when a court ordered the management of the temple and control of its assets to be transferred from the Travancore royal family, which controls a trust which manages the temple's affairs, to the state. The court also ordered its assets, hidden inside a series of vaults, to be inspected and audited.
Priests believe the temple, built in 6AD, belongs to Lord Padmanabhaswamy, an incarnation of the Hindu God Lord Vishnu, and only he can open its vaults.

TELEGRAPH.UK

http://www.britishmalayali.co.uk/inn...16&top=29&con=

VS, GO TO HELL......
Your name is VS which means 'Versus'.
You are born for opposing everithing.
You spoiled the good reputation of Trivandrum

[Ajaypp]

Rajesh, this is not a political forum. If you have purely political personal views to express, perhaps this is not the right forum. VS is leader of the democratic system whose career far longer than any autocratic King's reign. As a Chief Minister of Kerala, he has done far more for Trivandrum and Kerala than the current Maharaja can even dream of, so request you to show the proper respect where it is due and not turn this thread into a podium for sloganeering. Thanks.

[pradeeptnair1]

Rajesh was quoting something that appeared in a news website which is widely read by mallus in UK, ofcourse with a dissent note.
That is something related to this temple as well. Just because a person was "democratically elected" and "has done far more" does n't give him the licence to talk rubbish about some one who is still respected for all the good deeds they have been.

And if VS has some "strong evidence" as he claimed, let him go to Court rather than calling press meets to gain some political mileage.

And yes as you said, as an exception, we can agree to disagree in this matter of Trivandrum.

Originally Posted by Ajaypp

Rajesh, this is not a political forum. If you have purely political personal views to express, perhaps this is not the right forum. VS is leader of the democratic system whose career far longer than any autocratic King's reign. As a Chief Minister of Kerala, he has done far more for Trivandrum and Kerala than the current Maharaja can even dream of, so request you to show the proper respect where it is due and not turn this thread into a podium for sloganeering. Thanks.

[vinodtnt]

False allegation is not new to VSA. Somewhat similar thing was happened in 2002 based on an anonymous letter received by him.

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