With the discovery of billions worth of treasure in the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple cellars touching an emotional chord among Hindus

With the discovery of billions worth of treasure in the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple cellars touching an emotional chord among Hindus here, the Oommen Chandy government may have found it politically expedient to ensure the state keeps off the wealth and allow it to remain with the shrine.

"No government will have the guts to do anything else that hurts the sentiments of the majority community. The Congress-led United Democratic government is particularly vulnerable because it is seen as minority dominated," said political commentator B R P Bhaskar.

Emerging from a high-level security meeting on Sunday, Chandy made it clear that the treasure will remain in the temple and that the government will take steps to ensure its security.

The news of the treasure find has brought Hindu organizations like the Nair Service Society (NSS) representing the Nair caste and the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) representing the Ezhavas on a common platform, something that has rarely happened in a long time.

Opposing proposals that the wealth be used for public welfare, NSS president P K Narayana Panikker said, "No one can claim the treasures dedicated to Sree Padmanabha Swamy by the erstwhile rulers. It should be kept intact in the temple and given adequate security."

The outspoken SNDP general secretary Vellappally Natesan went a step further and threatened mass suicides if the government tried to take over temple property. "Only Hindus and the royal family which zealously guarded the wealth have the right to decide what to do with it," he said.

The BJP echoed their view and said it would not allow the government to even touch a single penny from the treasure.

"It belongs to the temple and should remain with the temple," party state president V Muraleedharan said and welcomed the stand of the NSS and SNDP.

Even the CPM appeared to be going with the popular mood with former devasom minister and CPM leader G Sudhakaran demanding that the wealth should remain with the temple. "What has been found is endowment which has been preserved for centuries. We have to appreciate the fact that it was safely secured till this time. The inventory should be taken and the riches stored in the shrine itself. It belongs not to the government of the King but the temple and should be utilized only as per provisions of the Hindu Religious Endowments Act."

He added that when a proposal to take over the temple had come up before the Left government, "I had opposed it and the maintained that the autonomous nature of the governing council should be maintained. The Devasom Board (Religious Endowments Board) is finding it difficult to run even the Sabarimala shrine," Sudharakaran said.

On Sunday, former Supreme Court judge justice V R Krishna Iyer had demanded that parliament should be used for poverty alleviation. Writer and critique Sukumar Azhikode opposed the view that it belonged to any particular community.

treasure trove of gold, diamonds and precious stones worth billions of pounds has been recovered from secret underground chambers beneath a 16th century Indian temple.

The dazzling hoard – which includes coins minted when the East India Company dominated trade with the sub-continent – has lain untouched for nearly 140 years.
The value of the collection has been estimated at up to £14 billion, with new discoveries still to be catalogued. Antiquarians described the treasure's worth as "astronomical".
Highlights include gold and silver bullion dating back to the Napoleonic era, precious stones wrapped in silk bundles, thousands of intricate pieces of diamond and emerald-studded jewellery.
The treasure is currently being retrieved from chambers beneath the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Hindu temple in Thiruvananthapuram, capital of the southern state of Kerala – which was formerly the feudal state of Travancore.
According to locals, generations of rich Travancore maharajas who built the temple more than four centuries ago secreted immense riches within six of its thick underground stone vaults, three of which had not been opened since 1872.

All were located deep in the recesses of the temple at the end of a dark and dangerously steep flight of stairs.
The chambers have now been illuminated and pumped full of oxygen to aid the seven-member excavating team which includes local religious officials, archaeologists and a representative of the current Travencore Maharaja, who is the temple's caretaker.
Officials involved in the recovery operation indicated that many items in the precious hoard were offerings made by devotees to the royal family.
They estimate the treasure to be worth about £10-£14 billion, but a detailed inventory was far from complete yesterday as new findings continued to surface.
Antiquarians said it would take much longer to conclusively evaluate the treasure as the historical value of the objects recovered would need to be assessed along with their "astronomical" intrinsic value.
Accounts state that besides more than 2,500lb of gold coins and precious stones, the booty recovered from vault 'A' included gold ropes; a 3ft 6in idol of the Hindu god Vishnu embedded with diamonds, emeralds and rubies, and an 18ft-long gold chain weighing more than 75lb to adorn it.
Official sources said vaults 'B' and 'E' remain to be opened and are expected to disgorge many more royal treasures.