Supreme Court Verdict: The historical Padmanabhaswamy temple case has finally come to an end. Here’s the verdict.
The Padmanabhaswamy temple is a historical Hindu temple located in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. This holy temple has been a part of controversies for the past 9 years.
The controversy of the said temple began in the year 2011 when the Kerala High Court ruled that the state government should take over the control of the temple and all of its assets, but the royal family of Travancore appealed to the Supreme Court. An independent report was then commissioned and was completed in November, in the year 2012. According to the report, there was absolutely no evidence that the royal family of Travancore was expropriating the treasures.
Later, after a number of Crime branch investigations, after 9 whole years, on the 13th of July 2020, the Supreme Court overturned the decision of the High Court and upheld the right of the Travancore Royal Family to manage the property of the deity at Shree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
The verdict was passed by a two-judge bench of justices UU Lalit and Indu Malhotra who also ordered that the District Judge of Thiruvananthapuram would head an administrative committee to manage the affairs of the historical Padmanabhaswamy Temple till a final committee is constituted by the royal family of Travancore.
The Travancore Royal Family was the ruling house of the Kingdom of Travancore. They lost their ruling rights in the year 1949 when Travancore merged with India and their remaining privileges were abolished in the year 1971. You may also know the Travancore Royal family as Kupaka Swaroopam, Thripappur Swaroopam, Venad Swaroopam, Vanchi Swaroopam, etc.
As far as the verdict and the secret vaults are concerned, the court left it to the former royal family of Travancore to decide the opening of the secret vault that has been shut for years. The royal family had argued that the opening of the secret vault called “Kallara” in Malayalam (sepulcher in English) is a bad omen and will bring misfortune to the entire state because of a mythical curse.
However, after all of this controversy, it is good that the verdict has brought happiness and peace in the state. Everyone welcomed the judgment wholeheartedly. A member of the parliament of Congress, Shashi Tharoor welcomed the verdict in a tweet that read, “I welcome the SC verdict which reinstates the centuries-old traditions of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Kshetram and at the same time, conforms to the sentiments of believers. I am pleased to note the State Govt’s statement that they respect the SC verdict and will not file an appeal.”
The Padmanabhaswamy temple shot to international fame because of its treasures and secret vaults. This historical temple is also known as the richest temple.
