Travancore royal family to appeal court order over temple

The Sree Padmnabhaswamy temple trust run by the Travancore Royal family will be exploring the possibilities of appealing against a High Court order directing the government to take over the majestic temple in the state capital.

The grand temple, famed for its boat-shaped granite tower, columns of exquisitely carved stone pillars and rows of
dangling brass lamps, has been under the upkeep of the royal house for centuries.

The temple trust sources maintained bringing the temple under the government control would infringe the covenant entered into by the state and the royal family when princely rule came to an end in 1947.

While all other major temples in South Kerala were brought under control of the Travancore Devaswom Board, Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple alone was allowed to be retained under a special trust as its presiding deity is the family deity of the royal family, sources said.

Trust sources held that there was no ground for the state take-over of the shrine since there had been no mishap, such as  the stampede in Sabarimala recently, or proven charges of corruption in the running of temple affairs.
 
A division bench of the court yesterday directed the government to form a  trust to manage the temple within three months as the royal family had no hereditary rights over the temple, based on a private petition seeking direction in this regard. The court also asked the government to prepare an inventory of the temple's properties.

According to city historians, the present temple was built in the 18th century during the reign of King Marthanda Varma.
After expanding the small principality upto the borders of Kochi, Marthanda Varma dedicated his kingdom to the family and
deity, and took a solemn pledge that he and his descendants would be ruling as a  "servant of Sree Padmanabha".