Padmanabha Swamy Temple to be managed by former Royal Family : Supreme Court

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On Monday, the Apex Court sided with the erstwhile Travancore Royal family for the administration & control of the Padmanabha Swamy temple in Kerala. Settling the 9-year-long dispute, the top court overturned the Jan 2011 verdict of the High Court of Kerala which had ruled that the State Govt should take over the control of the temple from a trust headed by the former royal family.

“Great God’s will prevailed. Will say more about it after going through the whole verdict, said Princess Gowri Lakshmibai of the erstwhile Travancore royal family soon after the judgment.

Devotees came out in large numbers & distributed sweets before the sixth century temple, situated in the heart of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. Some devotees were even seen crying before the temple. The Kerala state government welcomed the verdict.

“We are bound to go by the verdict. We have always followed the apex court order in letter & spirit,” said state Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran.

The Padmanabha Swamy temple shot into limelight after the Supreme Court in May 2011 ordered a detailed inventory of the articles in the temple vaults which had long rumoured to be holding immense riches.

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When 5 of its 6 vaults, known as ‘Kallara’ in Malayalam, were opened in line with the Court order, vast treasure of gold & other priceless objects were discovered. It was estimated that the intrinsic value of the treasure amounted to more than Rs 90,000 crore. One of the vaults, Kallara B couldn’t be opened & the opening of the same was later kept in abeyance by the Supreme Court.

In Aug 2012, Senior Lawyer Gopal Subramanium was appointed Amicus Curiae (friend of the court) by the Apex Court. Subramanium submitted a voluminous report before the court in April 2014 alleging serious mismanagement of the temple by the trust & indicting the royal family on various counts.

The temple was under the control of a trust headed by the ex-royals’ family until April 2014 when the SC by way of a crucial interim order handed over its management to a 4-member administrative committee headed by a district Judge.

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The legal genesis of the dispute lies in the agreement of accession (agreement) signed between the Kings of Travancore with the Indian Govt in 1949 by which the princely state of Travancore became a part of the Indian Union.

Article VII of the agreement provided that administration of the Padmanabha Swamy temple shall be conducted, subject to the control & supervision of the ruler of Travancore, by an executive officer appointed by the ruler.

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