Opinion All that glitters

A museum that celebrates the temple’s unique legacy would not be a commercial enterprise, but a space of knowledge and a centre of learning.

The legal battle over who owns the Thiruvananthapuram Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, one of the richest shrines in the world, concluded on Monday. The Supreme Court overturned a 2011 Kerala High Court order that had ruled against the Travancore royal family’s claims over the shrine and directed the state government to take over its assets and management. The SC order accepted the rights of the royal family and has asked for administrative and advisory committees, with representatives of the Centre, state government, the royal family, to be constituted to manage the temple and its assets.

The Supreme Court, however, did not speak on what has to be done with the temple’s treasures — gold coins and ornaments, precious stones and crowns — stored in underground vaults away from public view and valued at over Rs 1 lakh crore. The SC merely asked for the preservation of “all treasures and properties endowed to Sree Padmanabhaswamy and those belonging to the temple”, whereas the HC had wanted the treasures to be “exhibited in a museum”. The central government offered to set up a high-security underground museum, but the proposal did not take off because the royal family said the treasures belonged to the deity and were not for exhibition.

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The SC appointed temple committee ought to revive the HC’s suggestion to set up a museum. Unlike most other temples of similar antiquity, the eighth-century Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple is intrinsically linked to the region’s political, economic and social history. A museum that celebrates the temple’s unique legacy would not be a commercial enterprise, but a space of knowledge and a centre of learning.