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Perilous
Times, False Religions, False gods
India: Treasure worth 'billions' found in temple
* From: AAP
* July 02, 2011 10:28PM
A TREASURE trove of gold and silver jewellery, coins and precious
stones said to be worth billions of dollars has been found in a
Hindu temple in southern India.
The valuables have an estimated preliminary worth of over 500
billion rupees ($10.49 billion), Kerala Chief Secretary K.
Jayakumar said, catapulting the temple into the league of India's
richest temples.
The thousands of necklaces, coins and precious stones have been
kept in at least five underground vaults at the Sree
Padmanabhaswamy Temple which is renowned for its intricate
sculptures.
"We are yet to open one more secret chamber which has not been
opened for nearly 140 years," Mr Jayakumar said.
The actual value of the treasure haul can be ascertained only
after it is examined by the archaeological department, Mr
Jayakumar said.
The temple, dedicated to Hindu lord Vishnu, was built hundreds of
years ago by the king of Travancore and donations by devotees have
been kept in the temple's vaults since.
A necklace found on Thursday was six metres long. Thousands of
gold coins have also been found.
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 ($6.6 billion).
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,
Kerala director general of police Jacob Punnoose said.
"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 said.