Wednesday, July 6, 2011

A Seed is Sown For A New Scandal, Here!

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Where will this golden vigraha go now?
(This picture is from this article here)

This vigraha of Lord Vishnu looks so beautiful...minute work of art! The serpent on which the Lord is lying, is so artistically done. Lord Brahma who is coming out of the naabhi of Vishnu and the lotus, too, look so beautiful!

This vigraha (statue) is made out of pure gold which was found in the underground treasury of Shri Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Thiruvanatapuram, Kerala. More news about the recently found treasure is here.

This 6-9th century built temple (some say, 16th century!) is under threat now because of the billions of rupees worth of treasure found, a couple of weeks back. The temple had been taken care of by the Royal family of Travancore and some trustees all these centuries. Now, the government wants to take over the temple and they started to take inventory of the treasury and unexpectedly stumbled upon underground lockers of the temple, which were never opened for centuries even by the royal family members.

They came upon the above vigraha and other golden statues, diamonds, gold coins and many other ornaments in the lockers. Now, the debate is going on about how to handle the treasures!

All the artistic statues and ornaments can be kept in a museum with proper security - money is no problem now for this...the temple itself can pay and people can pay for the visits! Other things can be bid in a proper way and spent on building schools for children and hospitals for the poor.

This treasure was safe here because the Royal family and other trustees were god-fearing people and so, never touched the temple treasure. Once it is open to the public now, all political vultures will be after it.

Hope Lord Padmanabhaswamy helps in saving the artistic treasures!

I had visited this temple some 22 years back. Kerala temples normally, are, clean and 'jaragandi' business is not there, like at Tirupati. No 'special darshan' too! Have a look at the serene surroundings, here:


Devotees can have darshan calmly, without any hurry-burry...look at the beautiful architecture of the gopuram of the temple!


Kerala is literally god's own country...so serene!


Now, the temple is full of our security people...this temple is prone to terrorist attack, they say, feel very sad...nothing is left alone now! In the past, Moguls and Britishers looted our treasures, now, it is the turn of our own people!


P.S.: I was shocked to see this, while searching for details of the temple! The video asks us to visit Jesus after the health ad.!
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15 comments :

KParthasarathi said...

An exquisitely made golden vigraha.
Like the treacle drawing the ants, the hidden treasure is bound to attract the covetous eyes of many claimants,particularly the governments.The questions that are bound to be raised are whether a secular government can appropriate what has been found in a religious place,whether the location where it was hidden determined ownership, how it can be utilised for larger good without siphoning off,whether it should be used primarily for propagation of Hindu culture and activities related to it, whether Dewaswom board, a government creation,should have a say and such like.It is the astronomical size of the treasure that makes the issue complex.
As of now we can only watch with interest how the issue is dealt with as the matter unfolds in public domain.

KParthasarathi said...

I have since seen news reports that the apex court is siezed of the matter and is contemplating how the rich artefacts are to be preserved etc.The court has ordered the filming of the treasure.

Roshmi Sinha said...

They wouldn't dare do tis to "other" places of worship.

We pray to God or Bhagawan. Wonder who Bhagawan prays to or should pray to... to preserve himself/herself from the Homo sapiens sapiens.

We are in the midst of ghor Kaliyug - where the "rakshak" is many times more dangerous than the "bhakshak".

Kavita Saharia said...

Speechless ....the vigraha is so beautiful !
Treasure's fate is as uncertain as of Lokpal Bill's.

Destination Infinity said...

Maybe we should keep it in RBI treasury to increase our foreign exchange value!

The trustees of the temple need to be appreciated for not touching this treasure for so many centuries. Wonder how even the British left them?

But what can individuals do with so much money? If someone had tried to sell these things, they will only be inviting danger.

Hope the Govt makes some sensible decisions as to what can be done with the treasure. Since the Supreme Court is involved, let us hope for the best.

Destination Infinity

BK Chowla, said...

My fear. Govt will do everything it can to take control of the treasure.
I wonder why hasnt yet any one asked or discussed the wealth of Vatican?

Sandhya said...

KParthasarathy: I too read about the court asking to take videos of the treasure.

Still, the politicians and others are waiting to put a hand on this treasure. These artefacts depict our bygone cultural heritage...even before the British came here. Thank god, the Royal family preserved this and we are able to know our past history.

Hope they are put into display, someday, for all of us to have a look at our past rich culture, don't you think so, Partha Sir?


Roshmi Sinha: ' where the "rakshak" is many times more dangerous than the "bhakshak"'...you are very correct, Roshmi!


Kavita: One of these days, we are going to just sit and wonder where all the treasure had gone, Kavita!


Destination Infinity: If the artefacts are kept in RBI, we cannot 'see' them, you know!

I read in an article in a tamil magazine that the Royal family of Travancore were very 'devoted' to the British, so they didn't touch anything or harm anyone!

Individuals don't 'need' this type of treasure, but people who 'want' this treasure might go to any length to catch hold of this huge treasure.

Supremem court? Even they act according to the govt.'s bidding, nowadays. We have to just wait and see, D.I.

Anonymous said...

Lovely picture of the vigraha!

All the political vultures will be after this treasure now. But really, it should not be sold or kept locked in some bank vault. Politicians will find some way to grab it then!

It is great luck that Muslim invaders or the British did not find and loot this treasure. I hope a way is found to keep it in the temple itself in a safe manner.

Bikram said...

lovely picture

but govt taking it over it will soon be gone ... Govt cant be trusted ... ever
sad

the same happened after the blue star operation in punjab, when govt took all historical and important stuff money gold and all never to be returned back..

if it was safe for so long why did the govt have to interfere

Bikram's

radha said...

If it goes into government control it will definitely lead to the biggest of all scams. It will be looted for sure. Sad that we have so little faith in the government.

Sandhya said...

BKChowla: Nobody would dare to question Vatican!

We will never see this vigraha, I think. If they display these artefacts with proper security, they might get lots more tourists too! Feel scared sometimes thinking about the lethargy of our people...they are inviting scandals with their eyes open!


Manjujoglekar: Now the political vultures and terrorists will target temples for looting treasures! Today one person who is in the temple trust, reveals that the temple's pond has got hidden treasures!

I think we will never see the temple like it is today, again, Manju! This revelation is dangerous for other temples too!


Bikram: I have heard about the 'blue star' atrocities, which is very sad.

Don't know what is going to happen to the temple itself, Bikram.


radha: We will never have faith in our government in the future, whoever, whichever party rules! All are filthy people.

kanagu said...

That statue is so nice.. thanks for posting it :) I didn't seen it before..

Power and money corrupts!!!! And people preying on them now. I read in the Tamil magazine 'Pudhiya thalaimurai' that Arvind Ashram was about to be disintegrated and government took over it and maintaining it till now. Hope something happens of that kind.

One suggestion from me will be... make a museum and show off how rich our country is even after all the things looted from us and make money out of tourism.

Renu said...

any place with the no of visitors like Thitupathi will have the same chaos.

why govt always meddles with HIndu temples?..leave them and let them manage their own money.

A said...

First picture is so clear.

Thanks for this post with specific information.

Sandhya said...

Kanagu: Yes, I feel like that too...if all the artifacts are kept in a museum, the whole world can view them. Our next generations will know (even we can know!), how rich our heritage is!


Renu: Yes, Renu! Once Govt. interferes, looting will start. The royal family treat the temple with reverence and will never do anything wrong for fear of god's wrath or respect! Politicians have no conscience or fear!


A: Thanks for visiting, A! As soon as I saw the picture, I wanted to keep it in my blog, so, the post!

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