Hindu organisations meet July 12 on Kerala temple treasure

Representatives of 90 Hindu organisations are to meet here July 12 to decide their stand on the discovery of the treasure worth an estimated Rs.1 lakh crore found in underground vaults of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple here, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader said Friday.

BJP councillor Ashok Kumar, who was at the temple premises along with his supporters, also welcomed the apex court order on not opening the last vault. "It is a welcome relief that the apex court of the country has come out with a directive not to open the vault B until further orders. But we are certainly meeting on July 12 to decide what our stand should be with regard to this issue," said Ashok Kumar. As soon as the directive came from the apex court Friday not to do anything till they decide, supporters of Shiv Sena took out a march near the temple and shouted slogans favouring the apex court's ruling. An apex court bench of Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice A.K. Patnaik said that the sixth vault (Kallara B) will not be opened till the treasure recovered from Kallara A is videographed, photographed and its inventory prepared. The Supreme Court had appointed a seven-member committee in May, to open the vaults of the temple, which led to the discovery of huge treasure estimated to be around Rs.1 lakh crore. Meanwhile the members of the apex court-appointed committee met here briefly but the panel's head Justice (retd) M.N. Krishnan declined to share any details. "The only one sentence, I can say is that, the apex court has stayed the opening of the vault B and now we are waiting for the directive from the apex court," he said Krishnan. There are six vaults in the temple, five of which have been opened. Meanwhile, Finance Minister K.M. Mani, presenting the budget, made an allocation of Rs.1 crore for the security of the temple.