After half a century, Banke Bihari temple’s treasury chamber in Mathura opens: What did the SC panel find

The toshkhana locks were broken on Saturday under the supervision of the committee members. A police search team, the City Magistrate and four Goswamis also entered the chamber wearing protective masks.

The team found silver sticks smeared with gulal, a gleaming gold stick, gems and precious utensils, but could not find any property-related documents, said a member. They did not enter the ‘tehkhana’ (basement) of the temple on Saturday after some members complained of suffocation.

On Sunday, the team made a second visit to the toshkhana and went inside the basement, but could not find anything more to add to the inventory list, said a member.

According to Dinesh Goswami, a detailed inventory of the items found inside the treasury was prepared. The entire exercise was videographed on both days

Speaking to the media, committee member Dinesh Goswami said the procedure to open the toshkhana gate started around 1.30 pm and continued till 4:30 pm on Saturday. Once the locks were broken, the area till the basement was cleaned.

“We discovered several utensils. It seems that they were used by Thakurji (Lord Krishna). It seems they are mostly made of brass and copper but we cannot say anything for sure because they are covered in dust. Looking at the sticks, it seems Thakurji used to play Holi with the silver ones and wore the gold one on Dhureli, four to five days later… Several chests have been discovered, many of them couldn’t be opened,” he said.

According to Dinesh Goswami, a detailed inventory of the items found inside the treasury was prepared. The entire exercise was videographed on both days.

He said the inspection work inside the toshkhana was over and “there was nothing left to search”. City Magistrate Rakesh Kumar Singh said he will submit a report to the high-powered committee for further review.

What has stirred concern, however, are reports that several property documents that were expected to be found inside the treasury are yet to be discovered. Temple historians say the temple’s records from the 19th century mention deeds, gift letters, and land ownership papers, donated to the temple by several royal families back then, were stored in the toshkhana.

Religious leader Dinesh Falahari, who was the petitioner in the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi case, has written to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, demanding a CBI probe into “large-scale mismanagement and disappearance of temple assets”. “Thousands of crores worth of movable and immovable property were donated over the years. Now those papers are nowhere to be found,” the letter states.

The Banke Bihari Temple, built in 1864, is governed under the Vaishnav tradition by Goswami families who claim hereditary rights over its rituals and management.

In 2023, the Supreme Court formed an interim management committee to oversee day-to-day affairs and ensure transparency. The decision to open the toshkhana, which had met with objections from several Goswami members, was part of that mandate.