Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 10 (PTI) A senior member of the Travancore Royal Family on Thursday said the treasures in the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple are not showpieces and therefore, should never be taken out for public exhibition in any museum.
Aswathi Thirunal Gouri Lakshmi Bayi, a member of the royal family, said the treasures were offerings to the deity by the royal family as well as others over the years and “exhibiting them as a tourist attraction was unacceptable”.
In a video uploaded on a social media platform, she also said that to the best of her knowledge, nowhere else in India were the treasures or gold in temples put up for exhibition in museums.
“Have not seen such exhibition halls anywhere else. Then why in Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple? That is all I have to say,” she said and clarified that it was her personal opinion.
Earlier in the day, the BJP in Kerala said it would oppose any move to exhibit the treasures in the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple here at any museum.
BJP state president K Surendran dared the ruling Left front and the Congress-led UDF opposition in the state to try and exhibit the treasures in the temple and said any such move would not be successful.
Surendran, while addressing a protest march here against Speaker A N Shamseer’s alleged remarks about a Hindu deity, said that there was a discussion in the state assembly about holding a public exhibition of the temple’s treasure to attract tourists and generate revenue.
He alleged that if the LDF and UDF were thinking of bringing the treasure out from its vaults and then using it to generate revenue for themselves, then such plans would be opposed by the BJP.
He said that any attempt to bring out the treasures from the temple vaults would be thwarted by the saffron party even if both fronts come together to attempt it.
The suggestion to exhibit the treasures was mooted in the House by Congress MLA A P Anil Kumar and was supported by CPI(M) legislator Kadakampally Surendran.
However, two Congress MLAs — Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and P C Vishnunadh — opposed the idea.
The matter came up for discussion during the debate on the Sree Pandaravaka Lands (Vesting and Enfranchisement) Amendment Bill, 2022 on Wednesday.
Kadakampally Surendran, who was the Minister for Cooperation, Tourism, and Devaswom in the previous Pinarayi Vijayan government, revealed during the discussion that a proposal was framed back then to put the treasures on exhibition with the best security system protecting them.
However, the Travancore Royal Family was opposed to the idea and therefore, the proposal was never implemented.
The project would have attracted tourists or devotees from across the world and would have generated revenue for the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple, considered to be one of the richest temples in the country, he had said.
He had also said that the House should convey to the royal family the government’s views on exhibiting the treasure and request them to support the idea as it would be beneficial for the state.
The CPI(M) MLA said that the royal family has done a lot for the development of the state and therefore, they should be convinced that exhibiting the treasure would not affect anyone’s religious beliefs.
The sprawling Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, an architectural wonder in granite, was rebuilt in its present form in the 18th century by the Travancore Royal House which had ruled southern Kerala and some adjoining parts of Tamil Nadu before integration of the princely state with the Indian Union in 1947. PTI HMP HMP ROH
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