Sc to decide: To open the vault B of the world's richest temple

Will the mysterious Vault B of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram, be opened? 

credit : Forbes

New Delhi : The Supreme Court will pronounce the judgement in the case relating to Padmanabhaswamy Temple administration dispute tomorrow.

The bench comprising Justic Uday Umesh Lalit and Indu Malhotra has finally heard the appeals in April, last year.

Vault B is one of the six vaults in the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple. While five vaults have been opened and its contents have been recorded by a court-appointed team, Vault B was not opened. The Travancore royal family, which used to manage the temple, claims this particular vault has a mystical curse over it and opening it would be nothing short of inviting a disaster to the state.

While the decision to open the vault is a corollary, the case in the Supreme Court mainly pertains to the administrative rights of the royal family over the temple. The apex court will decide if the ownership, control and management lie with the erstwhile royal family of Travancore, or should a Devaswom board (mostly controlled by the Kerala government) should be formed.

The six vaults in the temple

The five vaults in the temple were opened from 2011 onwards and an expert committee has recorded the inventory. A huge pile of treasure was found locked away in the five vaults: gold, silver, diamonds and other precious stones, which were cast into idols, coins, ornaments and vessels, among others.

Vault B is the final vault that has not been opened yet. The royal family claimed that only the anterooms of the vault were opened, and not the main chamber as there was a mystical curse associated with it.

While the contents locked away in this vault is not known yet, historians contend that it contains the massive treasures that the temple collected during the rule of the Travancore king.

However, both Gopal Subramaniam, the Supreme Court-appointed amicus curiae, and Vinod Rai, Comptroller and Auditor General, had told the court that the vault had been opened once in 1990 and twice in 2002.

Myths and beliefs attached to Vault B

The SC’s first hearing in the case was to assess the wealth of the temple, based on the writ petition filed by an advocate TP Sunder Rajan. However, in 2011, Sunder passed away and many attributed the sudden death to the wrath of Padmanabhaswamy or Vishnu, the main deity of the temple.

There are several other mythical theories associated with this vault, including the wrath of the ocean and snakes, which assume religious significance for many.

Many believe the vault is somehow connected to the Arabian Sea and that opening it will flood the entire state. The snake theory comes from the engravings in the vault’s door; it resembles a cobra. Hence, some believe that the vault is protected by lord Vishnu, considered to be the ‘king of nagas’ (snakes), and that it can be opened only sadhus by chanting a hymn. Although, experts and devotees have pointed out that this system does not exist anymore.

                       

credit : Quora

Many tantrics and vastu experts have dissuaded the expert committee from opening the vault, which is believed to be below the head of the deity, using gas cutters or without the prescribed chants seeking permission from the deity. 

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