Padmanabha Swamy Temple : Administrative/Advisory Committees To Consider Whether 'Kallara B' Should Be Opened; SC Refuses To Decide Controversial Issue

In its judgment in the Padmanabhaswamy Temple case, the Supreme Court refused to go into the controversial issue whether Kallara B in the temple needs to be opened.

The court left the matter open for the Administrative Committee and the Advisory Committee to consider whether Kallara B is to be opened for the purpose of inventorization. " We deem it appropriate to leave this issue to the best judgement and discretion of the Committees.", the bench comprising of Justices UU Lalit and Indu Malhotra said.

The court noted that inventorization has taken place with respect to most of the other Kallaras and that the antiques and artifacts of the Temple have been digitized, and for the last more than 9 years various steps have been taken under the directions of the Court.

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The High Court had issued a direction to open all Kallaras, make inventory of the entire articles and create a Museum and exhibit all the treasures of the Temple for the public, devotees and the tourists to view the same which could be arranged on payment basis in the Temple premises itself.

While the appeal proceedings were pending, the Supreme Court had issued directions to make inventory of the articles in the Kallaras. However, considering the objection put forth by various parties, the court had kept in abeyance the opening of kallara 'B' till further orders.

In 2011, a team acting on the directives of Supreme Court had opened the other vaults (kallaras). It was reported that a wealth of Rs 1 lakh crore in the form of jewellery, idols, weapons, utensils and coins was found. But there was religious objection against opening of Vault-B. It was said that the opening of vault will spell doom for those who dare open it.

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