ndia's Supreme Court Wednesday ordered that treasure estimated to be worth billions of dollars found at a Hindu temple in southern India be filmed and documented.
The court also directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to trace the source and antiquity of the treasure, and suggest where to store and protect it, IANS news agency reported.
A trove of precious artefacts, ornaments, jewels, gold and silver have been found in underground vaults of the 16th-century Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the southern state of Kerala.
The vaults were opened after the Supreme Court upheld a Kerala High Court verdict ordering the state government to take over the temple's assets from a trust controlled by the local royal family of Travancore.
The order came after a local lawyer petitioned the court saying security arrangements at the temple were inadequate.
The treasure found in five of the six chambers inspected so far by a court-appointed panel was estimated to be worth as much as 22 billion dollars, the Daily News and Analysis newspaper reported.
'The articles have not been valued as yet, therefore, we are not in a position to declare their worth,' temple spokesman BK Harikumar said.
The Kerala state government said Tuesday that the treasure belonged to the temple and should be kept there.
State Temple Affairs Minister VS Sivakumar reviewed security at the sprawling temple complex and said his government would fulfil its responsibility to safeguard the treasure.
Authorities have deployed additional police to guard the temple.
A decision on opening the last cellar is expected to be taken Friday. The chamber is believed to have been last opened more than 150 years ago and experts fear that forcing the sealed door may cause damage to the structure, NDTV reported.
The temple vaults were meant to be opened in times of crisis, according to local legends, it said. One such tale holds that opening them would bring bad luck.
Part of foundations of the temple were laid in 1566. It contains a 30-metre, seven-tiered tower and a corridor with 365 elaborately carved stone pillars.
Four of the six underground cellars had been opened regularly, but the other two located about 6 metres underground have been sealed for more than a century, according to temple officials.
The Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple was built by the kings of Travancore. The descendents of the royal family had appealed to the Supreme Court against the petition for the takeover.
The court also directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to trace the source and antiquity of the treasure, and suggest where to store and protect it, IANS news agency reported.
A trove of precious artefacts, ornaments, jewels, gold and silver have been found in underground vaults of the 16th-century Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the southern state of Kerala.
The vaults were opened after the Supreme Court upheld a Kerala High Court verdict ordering the state government to take over the temple's assets from a trust controlled by the local royal family of Travancore.
The order came after a local lawyer petitioned the court saying security arrangements at the temple were inadequate.
The treasure found in five of the six chambers inspected so far by a court-appointed panel was estimated to be worth as much as 22 billion dollars, the Daily News and Analysis newspaper reported.
'The articles have not been valued as yet, therefore, we are not in a position to declare their worth,' temple spokesman BK Harikumar said.
State Temple Affairs Minister VS Sivakumar reviewed security at the sprawling temple complex and said his government would fulfil its responsibility to safeguard the treasure.
Authorities have deployed additional police to guard the temple.
A decision on opening the last cellar is expected to be taken Friday. The chamber is believed to have been last opened more than 150 years ago and experts fear that forcing the sealed door may cause damage to the structure, NDTV reported.
The temple vaults were meant to be opened in times of crisis, according to local legends, it said. One such tale holds that opening them would bring bad luck.
Part of foundations of the temple were laid in 1566. It contains a 30-metre, seven-tiered tower and a corridor with 365 elaborately carved stone pillars.
Four of the six underground cellars had been opened regularly, but the other two located about 6 metres underground have been sealed for more than a century, according to temple officials.
The Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple was built by the kings of Travancore. The descendents of the royal family had appealed to the Supreme Court against the petition for the takeover.
