The Supreme Court verdict of 13 July in the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple case handed back control to its erstwhile trustees, the descendants of the Travancore-Cochin royal family.
The temple situated in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala is one of the most important Vaishnava temples. With the recent opening of its vaults, the temple has been acknowledged as the world’s richest place of worship in the world.
Situated in an eight-acre plot in the heart of city, the temple has an 18-feet idol of Padmanabha in a reclining pose. The main temple, its towers, and the fortress-like walls are built in granite.
The case had gained attention for the temple’s mysterious Vault B, which is one of six vaults, that the royal family refused to open, claiming it had some mystical curse.
In its judgment on Monday, the Supreme Court reversed the 2011 Kerala High Court order, which had said that the family’s rights over the temple ceased with the death of the last ruler of Travancore, Sree Chithira Thirunal, in 1991.
In its judgment on Monday, the Supreme Court reversed the 2011 Kerala High Court order, which had said that the family’s rights over the temple ceased with the death of the last ruler of Travancore, Sree Chithira Thirunal, in 1991.
Incidentally, the SC did not mention anything on opening Vault B. However, the Bench, led by Justice UU Lalit, said that the interim expert committee will continue to manage the temple’s affairs, until the royal family forms a final committee. This committee will be temporarily headed by a Thiruvananthapuram district judge.
While all temples in Kerala came under Travancore and Cochin Devaswom Boards when the Princely States of Travancore and Cochin merged in 1949, the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple’s administration was ‘vested in trust’ to the last ruler of Travancore, as per the Agreement of Accession signed between the Princely States.
When Utradam Thirunal Marthanda Varma claimed that the treasures of the temple are the properties of the royal family, many devotees objected to and challenged his authority to run the temple in many lower courts.
In 2011, the brother of the last ruler filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the SC, which granted interim stay of the HC order. A bench comprising Justices UU Lalit and Indu Malhotra concluded all the hearings in the case in April 2019. On Monday, the SC upheld the rights of the erstwhile royal family.