Life
The Curse and Riches of the Cobra
Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala has found over $22 billion of gold, diamonds and other precious metals, making it the richest temple in India.
A Supreme Court ordered partial audit of the treasures in the underground chambers of Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala has found over $22 billion of gold, diamonds and other precious metals, making it the richest temple in India, displacing Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, which is officially the richest shrine in India. One vault, which is believed to house the most valuable articles — and harbor a curse upon anyone who opens it — has yet to be inventoried.
T.P. Sundara Rajan, the lead petitioner, whose advocacy led the Supreme Court to open the temple vaults, died within a month of the discovery, prompting media speculation on the “Curse of the Cobra,” long associated with the temple’s treasures. The Supreme Court has set up a five person committee to examine how to handle the reservation of devotees.
The head of the former royal family Padma Rao Sundarji, former King of Tranvancore, principal patron of the temple, has renounced any personal claims to the billions of dollars’ worth of ancient treasures: “But please don’t remove those objects from the temple. They belong to nobody, certainly not to our family. They belong to god and our law permits that.”