‘Opening vault B could disturb the deity’

Thiruvananthapuram : The members of Travancore royal family and a section of devotees are opposed to the opening of vault B that is rumoured to house several treasures because of the belief that the act could disturb the deity.

“We are opposed to it because of the belief that there is a secret tunnel passing through vault B. This tunnel leads to the main deity and this could be the reason why several mystical powers are associated with it. Once the door is opened and people start entering the tunnel we strongly believe that it could disturb Lord Padmanabha,” said a member of the royal family. The temple became one of the richest in the world because they believed in surrendering everything to the Lord by securing them inside the vaults.

Further, he said all the other vaults have been opened, inventoried and digitised with photographs and estimates indicate that it is worth over Rs 1.5 lakh crore. “These antiques are worth even more and have remained secure in the vaults. We are anxious that opening of vault B would affect the belief of our forefathers,” he said.

Amicus Curiae Gopal Subramaniam in his report had sought the court directive to open vault B, citing pilferage of gold estimated at Rs 186 crore and diamonds from the temple.

Citing the report of Vinod Rai-led special audit authority, submitted before the court on March 28 last year, Amicus Curiae had revealed several discrepancies. Auditors found a shortage of 769 gold pots with a weight of 776 kg, approximately valued at Rs 186 crore. His report also indicated that as per the entries in a register, the `kallara B’ (vault B) had been opened at least seven times during the period from July 1990 to December 2002.

The report recommends strengthening of the vault A of the temple which holds most of the valuable items and to simultaneously strengthen vaults D, E and F. Since vaults E and F contain ornaments for daily use of deity, strengthening process should be undertaken in consultation with the Nambis, who are the ritual custodians. It made a similar recommendation for ornaments used for ritual purposes found in vault D. With regard to utensils and ornaments for worship in vault D, E and F , the Amicus Curiae believes that the Tantris are justified in their demand that they should not be touched by others for inventorying. Supreme Court counsel M K S Menon said the court has made it clear that it does not intend to hurt the beliefs of temple devotees. On the Amicus Curiae report which calls for opening of vault B, he said it concerns only the outer chamber and not the inner chamber which has been sealed.

M Velayudhan Nair, coordinator, temple expert committee and former head of the National Museum Institute , said they have reported the completion of the inventory process of all vaults barring the vault B. “The data has been digitised and bar-coded and would be available at the touch of a button. It is for the Supreme Court to decide whether these treasures are to be stored in a museum in the temple vicinity,” he said.

Source : TOI