Kerala's Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple may reveal more riches

While all eyes are on Kerala'sSree Padmanabha Swamy temple'ssecret Vault B, which hasn't been opened for decades, it has been learnt it's got millions, may be billions of rupees worth of jewels and gold inside.

More than 80 years ago, theSree Padmanabha Swamyshrine echoed with auspicious strains - one of the several vaults inside the secret treasure chamber of the temple was about to be unlocked. The Travancore royal family witnessed the two-and-a-half-hour struggle to break open the rusty lock. The Maharaja, Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, was himself overseeing the operation.

"It was opened, if you depend on the records made by a foreign traveler, who wrote a small guide book, in which she said that the vault was opened, but cobras were inside. They closed the vault believing that Lord Ananthapadmanabha protected it," Historian T.P. Sankarankutty Nair says.

The descendants of the house of Travancore still supervise the trust that administers Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple and its wealth. Much of its riches has been kept in the dark - under lock and key for decades. Now, the world is getting to know about it. A full-fledged appraisal of the mind-boggling wealth is on. More will be unveiled when Chamber B is opened.

Historian T.P. Sankaran Kutty Nair says, "The chief priest and some of the priests of the temple say that the Vault B is the largest and worth more than Rs 50 lakh crore." In 1931, in the days when price of gold was less, it was calculated as worth Rs 12 thousand crore.

Mystery and superstition shroud the enormous fortune that is being guarded round the clock.