urbestfriend Posted July 2, 2011 Posted July 2, 2011 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The legend of El Dorado was definitely not set on the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple. But the seven-member panel, which is drawing up a list of assets at the famed shrine here, had a feel of the lost city of gold as they set foot in one of the two secret vaults located inside the sprawling granite structure which gives the Kerala capital its name. On Thursday, the team assisted by personnel from the fire services and archeology department opened the locks of vault A to find a narrow flight of stairs leading down to an underground granite cellar. Oxygen was pumped frequently into the chamber and artificial lighting provided to enable the observers to work inside. What they saw inside was startling, sources said. Gold coins dating back thousands of years, gold necklaces as long as nine feet and weighing about 2.5 kg, about one tonne of the yellow metal in the shape of rice trinkets, sticks made of the yellow metal, sack full of diamonds, gold ropes, thousands of pieces of antique jewellery studded with diamonds and emeralds, crowns and other precious stones lay scattered in the chamber marked 'A'. Friday threw up far more surprises in the form of 17 kg of gold coins dating back to the East India Company period, 18 coins from Napolean's era, precious stones wrapped in silk bundles besides over 1,000 kg of gold in the form of coins and trinkets and a small elephant made of the yellow metal, sources said. There were also sovereigns bearing the 1772 seal indicating they were from the reign of the then native king Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma. There are a total of six vaults marked A to F in the shrine. The A and B cellars have never opened since 1872. Reports said the value of the recoveries so far from vault A alone may exceed over Rs 50,000 crore. This doesn't take into account their antique value. With chamber B, yet to be opened, speculation was rife that the shrine would pip Tirupati Balaji, who too has been assessed at a little more than Rs 50,000 crore to a distant second. No official confirmation has been forthcoming on the value of the recoveries. Retired Kerala high court judges — Justice M N Krishnan and Justice C S Rajan — appointed observers by the Supreme Court said, ''It's difficult to give an exact date about when the stock-taking would be completed. The B and E vaults remain to be opened. We think it may take another week.'' Asked about the value of the assets, Justice Krishnan said the committee was drawing up the inventory of items and were not determining their price. The panel had set out on the job on June 27 and opened three vaults marked C, D and F till Wednesday. Assets found in these chambers were estimated to be worth over Rs 1,000 crore. The wealth discovery has raised questions on the shrine's security. As of now, the internal security is managed by the temple employees, but this may be inadequate in the light of the events. GOD'S OWN BOOTY * Gold coins dating back thousands of years, gold necklaces as long as 9 feet and weighing 2.5 kg; one tonne of gold in the shape of rice trinkets; sticks made of gold, sack full of diamonds, gold ropes and thousands of pieces of jewellery studded with diamonds and emeralds * 17 kg of gold coins dating back to the East India Company period; 18 coins from Napolean's era, precious stones wrapped in silk bundles besides over 1,000 kg of gold in form of coins and trinkets and a small elephant made of gold * The value of recoveries from vault A alone may exceed over Rs 50,000 cr. With chamber B yet to be opened, speculation is rife the shrine would pip Tirupati Balaji's assets, which too has been assessed at over Rs 50,000 crore :omg::omg: No wonder why so many foreigners invaded India, we were the rich society Now wait and watch a dirty power struggle breaking out..
lonestarranger Posted July 3, 2011 Posted July 3, 2011 From the article : *snip* *snip* GOD'S OWN BOOTY *snip* *snip* Is it just me or is that looking gross on multiple levels?
Roshanrocks Posted July 3, 2011 Posted July 3, 2011 75,000, CRORES 750,000,000,000 Rs divide by 45 Rs 16,666,666,666 16 Billion $ :yikes: :yikes: :yikes: :yikes: :yikes: :yikes: :yikes: :yikes: somebody pls cross check this figure... i am too numb to do it again
Rajiv Posted July 3, 2011 Posted July 3, 2011 If anything in GOD crazy India, see it as a gift from the maker and please use this to feed and give shelter to the needy
Roshanrocks Posted July 3, 2011 Posted July 3, 2011 and they are still counting the figure.... God knows how many more $$$ will be added to the already mindboggling figure SO much $$ found in one temple only... I just wonder how much $$ India had before we were invaded by Mughals, British, Portuguese, and others....
urbestfriend Posted July 3, 2011 Author Posted July 3, 2011 Surprisingly Ghazins/Goris didn't destroy the temple and British didn't loot it.! Now begins the LOOT by all politicians, govts , bureaucrats,police, authorities etc
Roshanrocks Posted July 3, 2011 Posted July 3, 2011 Surprisingly Ghazins/Goris didn't destroy the temple and British didn't loot it.! Now begins the LOOT by all politicians' date=' govts , bureaucrats,police, authorities etc[/quote'] who ever loots it... the money will still go to foreign land (swiss bank, Dubai, some other tax haven) :((
fineleg Posted July 3, 2011 Posted July 3, 2011 Surprisingly Ghazins/Goris didn't destroy the temple and British didn't loot it. Well, they have looted plenty of treasure out of India. Just that this one escaped.
DomainK Posted July 3, 2011 Posted July 3, 2011 A 9 feet long necklace of 2.5 KG? Who the F was wearing that?
urbestfriend Posted July 3, 2011 Author Posted July 3, 2011 Well' date=' they have looted plenty of treasure out of India. Just that this one escaped.[/quote'] Yes, a case in point is Hampi, capital of Vijayanagaram empire.Under Krishna Deva Raya rule in Vijayanagaram ,gold and silver were being sold on street like peanut.Somanatheshwara temple was looted 17 times by Mohd Ghazni.
urbestfriend Posted July 3, 2011 Author Posted July 3, 2011 A 9 feet long necklace of 2.5 KG? Who the F was wearing that? Probably it was a donation to the temple by some king.
Roshanrocks Posted July 3, 2011 Posted July 3, 2011 Probably it was a donation to the temple by some king. I heard/read that a king had given all his wealth to the temple to protect it against the British... That the entire wealth of the king... Feck... Small Indian Kings were richer than the present Sheiks of the Middle east :yikes: WHat about the bigger kings
NareshK Posted July 3, 2011 Posted July 3, 2011 The amount of money stolen from India by foreign rulers must be staggering and also the number of temples, monuments, universities they destroyed. :((
Roshanrocks Posted July 3, 2011 Posted July 3, 2011 The amount of money stolen from India by foreign rulers must be staggering and also the number of temples' date=' monuments, universities they destroyed. :(([/quote'] truly mind boggling when u think of it :yikes: But thanks to our call centers and software industry we are getting some of it back....... :winky:
Mariyam Posted July 3, 2011 Posted July 3, 2011 What would ideally happen to this gold/treasure? Will it be added to the Gold reserves of the RBI? Will it be given to the Trust of the temple where it was found? Can the descendants of the king claim this treasure? Will they be asked to pay wealth tax for the amount from 1947?
DomainK Posted July 3, 2011 Posted July 3, 2011 What would ideally happen to this gold/treasure? Will it be added to the Gold reserves of the RBI? Will it be given to the Trust of the temple where it was found? Can the descendants of the king claim this treasure? Will they be asked to pay wealth tax for the amount from 1947? AFAIK it will go to the government. It will be seriously undervalued, a few pieces will go missing as the initial audit goes on. But the remains will go to the government.
Roshanrocks Posted July 3, 2011 Posted July 3, 2011 I dont know what will happen to this treasure... :idunno: But I do hope its put to good use. Thanks to the supreme court who appointed this commitee to evaluate the wealth... :nice:
Sachin=GOD Posted July 3, 2011 Posted July 3, 2011 What would ideally happen to this gold/treasure? Will it be added to the Gold reserves of the RBI? Will it be given to the Trust of the temple where it was found? Can the descendants of the king claim this treasure? Will they be asked to pay wealth tax for the amount from 1947? This. Usually any such things found by the Govt or any unclaimed treasures or things found in bank lockers which have been unclaimed for a very long time are ultimately sent to the RBI.
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