HINDU TEMPLE’S TREASURE WORTH US $ 11 BILLION
Treasure worth billions reported in Hindu temple – World news – South and Central Asia – msnbc.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43621678/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India — A huge treasure has been found in a Hindu temple in southern India — gold and silver jewelry, coins and precious stones worth billions of dollars, Indian officials said Saturday.
The AFP news agency quoted Kerala Chief Secretary K. Jayakumar as saying the find had been estimated as worth more than $11 billion.
He said archaeological officials would have to examine the discovery in detail to determine its actual value.
The treasure was found in at least five underground vaults of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, known for its sculptures, AFP reported. The temple is in southern Kerala state, near the tip of the subcontinent
Jayakumar told AFP that one more secret chamber remained to be opened.
http://www.ashtarcommandcrew.net/profiles/blogs/billions-worth-of-treasure?xg_source=activity
Since India achieved independence from Britain in 1947, a trust managed by descendants of the Travancore royal family has controlled the temple.
But India’s Supreme Court recently ordered that the temple be managed by the state to ensure the security of valuables at the shrine.
Until now, the Thirupathy temple in southern Andhra Pradesh state was believed to be India’s richest temple with offerings from devotees worth 320 billion rupees.
The revelation about the huge riches in the Padmanabhaswamy temple has forced police to sharply step install security cameras and alarms.
Authorities also plan to set up a commando force for security, said Kerala director general of police Jacob Punnoose.
“Now it?s known all over the world that the Padmanabhaswamy temple has jewels worth billions of rupees we have decided to assign it maximum security,” Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told AFP.
Treasure worth $500m found in 16th century Indian temple
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/308654
Treasure, said to be worth 25 billion rupees, has been found in a secret underground chamber beneath the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in the Indian state of Kerala.
The hoard, which includes gold, silver and precious stones, had been interned within the secret vaults for over 150 years. It was originally hoarded there by the Maharajahs of Travancore. A full inventory is taking place and the treasure will be properly valued once complete. So far the inventory has taken more than four days and some historians say the true value may never be confirmed.
The temple is one of the most famous of the Lord Vishnu Temples in Kerala, South India. Lord Vishnu is enshrined here in an eternal sleep of yognidra posture. Local folklore tells of Travancore kings sealing immense treasures and riches within the thick stone walls and vaults of the temple.
Since India was granted independence from Britain in 1947, the temple has been run by a trust which includes descendants of the Travancore royal family.
The Supreme Court of India had appointed a seven-strong team to assess the value of the treasures said to be located within two vaults that had not been opened since the 1860s. Security of the temple has now been handed over to the police, reports the BBC
BBC News – India: Treasure unearthed in Kerala temple
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13994351
Precious stones, gold and silver are among valuables found at Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.
The riches are thought to have been languishing in the temple vaults for more than a century, interred by the Maharajahs of Travancore over time.
They have not been officially valued and inspectors are taking an inventory.
Inspectors say they will continue cataloguing the treasure for at least one more week.
Unofficial estimates say that the treasure discovered so far over four days of inspections may be valued at more than 25 billion rupees ($500m). But historians say that assessing the true value of these objects is likely to be extremely difficult….
The initial court petition was brought by a local lawyer, Sundar Rajan, who filed a case in the Kerala High Court demanding the takeover of the temple, saying that the current controllers were incapable of protecting the wealth of the temple because it did not have its own security force.
Anand Padmanaban, counsel for Sundar Rajan, was present when observers appointed by the Supreme Court opened the treasure chambers.
“Treasures included very old gold chains, diamonds and precious stones which cannot be valued in terms of money,” he told the BBC Tamil service.
“Many of those things were pretty old, going back to the 18th Century. They could not count it, so they are weighing it.”
Only two of four chambers had been opened so far, he said.
Treasure worth ‘billions’ found in Indian temple – Emirates 24/7
‘Billions worth’ of treasure found in Indian temple – Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/billions-worth-treasure-found-indian-temple-183022928.html
“Now it?s known all over the world that the Padmanabhaswamy temple has jewels worth billions of rupees we have decided to assign it maximum security,” Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told AFP.
Yahoo comments
If you want to see the wealth of India,Egypt,and Iraq go to the British Museum and the Smithsoan. If want to see the Poverity of these countries you just have to go there.
The temples in India have always been very wealthy in India. The common man starves, and the temples grow vast wealth. It has always been so. Look at the amount of wealth they amass simply by shaving women’s heads, and selling their hair. It is tragic, but I guess one can’t dictate morals.
What a good thing that it was not discovered before this, like during the time the Brits were there!! They would have stolen it; oops sorry … they would have taken it to Britain for safe-keeping along with the many other famous jewels that were ripped off and now form the British crown jewels.
God does not need millions of dollars of ornamenfs to maintain their status as gods. Hindus need to get a grip on reality. Our luck is not gonna improve all of a sudden if we go to thurupathi or mantralayam and donate a ton of money.
Mean while many citizens of India live in cardboard and tin boxes without toilets or running water and many without food.
These are donations from people of India. It should be put to good use for people of Kerala & India only. The corrupt Congress Gov’t must stay away from it. Manmohan-Sonia Clique are robbers & thieves.
2 comments
Kyaemon
July 15, 2011 at 1:58 pm
India’s temple treasure prompts test of faith
By Raja Murthy
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/MG08Df02.html
MUMBAI – A US$22 billion treasure trove in a south Indian temple, the world’s single-largest treasure find, has sparked an intensifying debate across India about who owns this ancient wealth of the gods: priests or the people?
The hoard of gold, diamonds, precious stones, jewelry and artifacts was found over the past week in five vaults of the 9th century Sree Padmanabhaswamy (pronounced padh-manaa-baa-swamee) temple in Trivandarum, capital of the south Indian state of Kerala.
The vaults of the temple were opened after 130 years. The Supreme Court had ordered an inventory of them, acting on a petition from lawyer T P Sundara Rajan after a squabble over temple management. Temple records mention the treasure, and its existence was known to locals. However, no one knew its true size.
The preliminary inventory of the Padmanabhaswamy temple treasure may have had King Solomon, the Knights Templar and Indiana Jones rolling their eyes in wonder: over a ton of gold, sacks of diamonds and precious stones; gold necklaces over three meters long and weighing over 2.5 kilograms, gold crowns, thousands of pieces of antique jewelry, idols, and artifacts studded with diamonds and emeralds.
The contents of chamber Vault A were valued at over $11 billion in a conservative estimate. The sixth closed vault B, to be opened perhaps on July 8, is expected to surpass treasures in other vaults.
Two dozen policemen are guarding the $22 billion treasure that makes this little known temple the richest place of religion in the world. It easily displaces the Vatican, estimated to own about $15 billion in wealth, and the Tirupati temple, in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, with about $11 billion of worldly properties.
Antique collectors’ valuation of the find, to be confirmed by the Supreme Court, could be over $100 billion. …..
ကြောင်ကြီး
July 16, 2011 at 9:10 am
After reading this news, it is very likely that the stories of the fortune of the tycoons and king ( ဇောတိက သူဌေး၊ ဇဋိလ သူဌေး၊ အသောကမင်း ) who are also famous in the Buddha literature are real. Some like သဂျီး claim that the accounts of Buddha era in the literature have been rigged and exaggerated. I am very worried about him for being a အဓမ္မဝါဒီ၊ မိစာ္ဆဒိဠိ. 🙁