Where parties dare: In God's own country, Sabarimala and temple treasure are sacrosanct

Amid the architectural grandiose, the oil lamps and soft chants, are 250 security personnel, 59 CCTV cameras and an annual expense of Rs9 crore for guarding the treasure around the sanctum sanctorum of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple.

Shrouded in reticent mystery and fierce debate, the treasure of gold, diamonds and precious stones awaits a final word on its fate, as political parties refrain from stoking the sensitive matter in the heat of elections.
The row over the treasure, which an expert panel is understood to have valued at over Rs one lakh crore, has thrown up various suggestions- putting it in a museum, leaving it to the Travancore royal family, monetising it, leaving to a devaswom, or giving to RBI under judicial control.

"Kerala is like a beggar sitting on a branch of gold," said a social scientist MA Oommen. Appreciating Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to monetise the gold in temples, he says it can be securitised and temples can issue bonds. "I am for utilising it. Most political parties are sentimentalising it and none of them want to take it up as an election issue. Vote bank politics is different from value politics. It's antithetical to it," he said.

The Congress-led UDF and BJP are reluctant to tread into the sacred domain, while the CPM-led LDF wants the temple wealth to be used for benefit of people. However, the election campaign is bereft of the discourse that has been swirling in the heart of Kerala as leaders maintain that the treasure was anyway locked in legal battles.

Chief minister Oommen Chandy made it clear that the UDF would desist from taking on the royal family. "The treasure must be in safe custody. We will go by directions of the court. We have a strong view in favour of the Travancore palace... We have to keep sentiments of the palace in mind," he said. 

BJP chief Kummanam Rajasekharan said the matter should be left to temple devotees, custodians and administrators. "It's tri-dimensional and all three should be taken into account," he said. The CPM is categorical in its stand that the wealth should be put to use for people. "It should be treated as public property. On the basis of guarantee of this money, it should be used for benefit of people," said CPM leader P Rajiv.

The parties accuse each other of not making their positions public in an election where the BJP and its allies are trying to make inroads by targeting the Hindu vote in a state which was so far in the grip of bipolar politics of UDF and LDF. Among the treasure of jewels is a gold necklace weighing 6.5 kgs and 18 feet long, the length of the presiding deity at the temple, according to sources who have witnessed the treasure in the half a dozen vaults. There is also a gold and stone-studded standing Padmanabhaswamy deity.

Each of the four major vaults, including the secret Vault B, are around 100 sq feet and some are in two levels. The rest are smaller ones. In 2014-15, the gold was wrapped in silk cloth after some wooden boxes were found to be in dilapidated condition, the sources said. They also said the expert panel did not find any underground tunnel linking the vaults to the Arabian Sea.

At the temple, half an hour is reserved for members of the royal family of Travancore to offer prayers.

Advocate Ananda Padmanabhan says no political party wants to antagonise them. "The state being secular cannot run a temple so it should be run by a devaswom like in the case of Guruvayur and Tirupathi temples," he says.

Advocate Padmanabhan, who has been battling the case for seven years, says wax replicas of the one lakh coins should be put in a museum. He is of the view that the assets should be protected with accountability of every penny. "But, my friends and neighbours have turned against me. People say I am fighting the royal family.. Only VS Achuthanandan (CPM veteran) supported me," he said.

Political parties are also keeping the row over women entering Sabarimala temple out of their campaign rhetoric. "Sabarimala is related to faith. There is a tradition of usual practice. For years a system is continuing so government doesn't want to interfere in this field," said Chandy. Earlier this year, his government had filed an affidavit in Supreme Court saying women should not be allowed to enter the temple.

Only Achuthanandan supported me 

Advocate Padmanabhan, who has been battling the case for seven years, says wax replicas of the one lakh coins should be put in a museum. He is of the view that the assets should be protected with accountability of every penny. "But, my friends and neighbours have turned against me. People say I am fighting the royal family.. Only VS Achuthanandan (CPM veteran) supported me," he said.
Political parties are also keeping the row over women entering Sabarimala temple out of their campaign rhetoric.