Update:
1. As per media reports, the government has said, the wealth would remain with temple and go will not interfere.
2. Another article in IE, stressing that treasure should belong to lord.
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The recent discovery of padmanabha temple treasure where the golds and other ornaments found in secret chambers underground, is estimated to be around 1 lakh crore. This temple belongs to the royal family of the travancore state, which is one of the small princely states of india.
How much would the Britishers had looted india?
As of independance, there were more than 500 princely states in india, and major kingdoms like mysore, jaipure etc. The jewels found in the padmanabha temple should have been hidden there by the royal family of travancore to hide from britishers. This to my estimate is after paying all the tributes to the britishers.
When such a small princely states had so much of wealth, how much would the british had looted from all the other princely states of india? Suppose, we assume that on an average, 1/10th of this treasure (10,000 crore) be possessed by 500 small princely states. It comes around 500 x 10,000 crore = 50,00,000 crore. and this is as per current market value. But the value of antiques is unlimited. The temple jewels fall under the category of antiques, and hence the values is far far higher.
The extent of loot, during 1857 war is not included here. During 1857, so many rajyams were destroyed by britishers, and the treasury taken over. The estimate of that loot is beyond my comprehension.
Some pertinent questions here:
- The temple is under the control of Travancore Royal Family. So naturally, the treasure found in that temple belongs to them. If the government forcefully acquires these treasures, then what is the difference b/w british loot and the present government loot.
- Who is that Sunderrajan, who filed a petition before supreme court? He has requested for a government take over, which itself is malicious. What are his backgrounds?
- The petitioner had requested that the government should take over the temple the government themselves because the temple management is not proper. It is ridiculous and irony. Because, both the government and the judiciary is ridden with full of corruption. By Historical accounts, we had always found that native indian kings had governed their region more efficiently than any of the colonial indian government. Can we say, the government should handover the administration back to these erstwhile kings, because they are ridden with corruption?
- This temple is a perfect example to judge who the rightful owner for a temple is. Sri Padmanabha swamy temple belongs to royal family, and it is they who has been maintaining this rajya temple for generations. It is they who has to decide whom to allow and whom NOT allow inside the temple. Temple is NOT a public property. The public can worship there, but cannot claim any rights over it. Temple is NOT like a church. While a church is a place of gathering for worship, a temple is a place where the god himself resides. So the sanctity of the temple has to be maintained. The government nor the court dont have any business to meddle in the affairs.
- In eastern cultures, the king has been the protector of dharma. They had always governed our country, far far better than rest of the world. Unusual in western countries, the king is subservient to the presiding deity, as we find in the padmanaba temple case. The travancore king calls themselves as padmanaba daasa. When they commit wrong, the presiding deity will restore dharma. So they are not absolute monarch, NOR the dictators we usually find in the west. This is true for most indian kings. We can always find such rajya temples in all dhesams. The Hindu intellectuals should understand that there is no dharma, without a king.
- Unlike the modern westernised urban ghettos (also called as cities, metros etc) the temple is centre of our bharatheeya nagaras, around which the nagara is designed and built. I dont know the old architecture of the city of tiruvananthapuram. If any one has details, please share in the comment section. The whole city is administered and regulated by the royal family before independance and tiruvananthapuram seemed to be a planned one. The present colonial indian government had taken over the control from them during independance, and left the city to degrade itself. This is how the our culture and our religion had declined, which the hindu intellectuals are refusing to understand.
- The temple jewels should rightfully belong to the royal family, and they should be allowed to raise a security force to maintain it and use it as per dharma. The effort to take over temple by government has to be resisted strongly.
Already janatha party president Subramanya swamy and Jayalalitha o f ADMK had publicly accused Sonia Gandhi of stealing antiques in india. It seems, the present incident is a conspiracy to steal the assets of padmanaba perumal. The bagwan has to deliver the justice here.
I really do not want to get into an argument with you. But I could not resist writing this comment.
ReplyDelete1. You have rightly said about the Britishers. They have looted our country and its treasures, no doubt and made themselves richer. Do you know, there are a number of people in this country, who think that British rule was better than the current one?
2. The arguments you have said about the Kings of India is no different from that. Please understand Kings themselves wherever they were, are looters.Do you know of any king who ran an industry or a large farm or worked from morning till evening to earn his daily bread? How did they make this money? All this money, that you see in the temples and the so called money of the kings? No king has ever toiled is skin out. They have all plundered people, either of their own nation or that of the conquered nations.
3. The money, wherever it is, in whatever form it is, it is the money of the people and not that of any one else.
4. Now, coming to our current government. There cannot be any doubts about the prevalent corruption, the dubious working methods that they have and all that. Yes, they are corrupt. But all said and done, it is our government. We have elected them. We have paid them taxes to run themselves. We question them. We raise really embarrassing issues and scams. If it had been a monarchy, the person who raised it would be dead by now. You and I, who are shouting hoarse at the government will probably end in jail for life or exiled! We should be thankful, that our forefathers have toiled and brought us to this state where we are able to raise our voices at atrocities that are being committed. It is our responsibility, gentlemen, to move further, ensure that atrocities are slowly and steadily weeded away from this great land.
It will happen. Let us work with hope.
shan , you must be knowing something about travancore kings.The treasure was from many kings , donated to Lord and not looted from people.They even donated some gold coins to their citizens ( nearly 20 gms at that time , and its true ! ) and the property that was at present found was the remaining one. They submitted themselves as slaves for The Lord .
ReplyDeleteThey fear only god and hence they kept the treasure near feet of god , beneath feeling that god takes care of his own property.
So , the treasure must be kept in Trust only.
A temple build by a muslim - Truly Indians are great
ReplyDeletehttp://www.timescrest.com/opinion/faith-beyond-boundaries-5187
He's been called an infidel by conservative sections of the Muslim community for re-building the Ganesh Dham Mandir in Rajasthan, but Ashiqali Mohibali Nathani, whose grandfathers migrated from Pakistan during Partition, says his faith is not misplaced.
A compulsive loner, Mahant Shri Prabhudasji Maharaj is not your everyday dharma guru. Unlike the countless "charismatic" babas who spout gyan, on and off, 95-year-old Maharaj is introverted, soft-spoken, and shy to a fault. But the frail, disheveled-looking Prabhudasji is transformed when he sees Ashiqali Mohibali Nathani, in his trademark white kurta-pyjama, walking up the steps of Ganesh Dham Mandir. Gone is the reluctant talker in the revered baba who mostly answers in monosyllables. Nathani, a Muslim devotee, is special to Prabhudasji and the Ganesh Dham Mandir Trust, and the baba chats with Nathani like he does with no one else.
And there is a valid reason for this bond between the mahant and his Muslim devotee. Nathani, a Mumbai-based industrialist, has rebuilt a Hindu temple - the Ganesh Dham Mandir, on the outskirts of the famous Ranthambore National Park. The temple, with lord Ganesha occupying its sanctum sanctorum, is neither lavishly decorated nor architecturally rich. Yet, ever since its inauguration on January 27 this year, it has become more than a pilgrimage centre. "It is a symbol of communal harmony. With this, I want to send a message that astha (belief) is beyond boundaries, " says 60-year-old Nathani who spent Rs 1. 5 crore to rebuild the temple and a spacious one-room flat for Prabhudasji which the latter rarely uses. "Maine isko mana kiya mere liye ghar mat banao, lekin nahin mana" (I asked him not to build a house for me, but he didn't listen to me), says the swami who prefers to stay at the old, decrepit ashram, sharing the courtyard with a cowshed, on the same premises.
Nathani says he first visited Prabhudasji's ashram in February 2009. Nitin Shirge, one of the directors in the company Nathani owns, would talk very highly of the mahant's miracles. "My company was in a financial crisis as a bank had blocked the release of funds we had deposited with it. When I told this to Baba, he looked heavenwards and said "sab theek hojayega" (everything will be fine). Within a few days of our return from Baba's ashram, the bank released the funds, " recalls Karachi-born Nathani, whose grandfathers, partition refugees, had left their successful leather business behind in Pakistan for an uncertain future in India.
people or court judge who ordered to open up the secret vaults is the most stupid and idiot on the earth .when govt doesnt hv to loot this treasure then why the hell they r showing it to entire world ? i think this tresure also will be looted and move to europian countries same like kohinoor looted by britishers and hell elizabeth
ReplyDeleteThere must be a reason why this money has been found now, having been there for hundreds of years. It has got a purpose to serve than to go into corrupt hands. I am sure GOD will take care of that.
ReplyDeletewhy money makes man go mad like a drunken scorpion bit monkey all that we need is 3 square meals and dharmic life stile not to bother about any thing else. is this yellow metal so worthy without the importance attached to it. then Why give it soo much importance?? can you eat the same. no no no. Try to attach importance to food and share the same to one and all which is cheaply available as the prasadam of mother earth.
ReplyDelete