New Delhi:
The Padmanabhaswamy temple is unable to pay Rs 11.7 million to the Kerala government, to reimburse the state for expenses related to security and maintenance, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a temporary administrative committee told the Supreme Court on Friday.
The committee, one of two set up by the court in July last year to administer temple affairs until the former Travancore royal family makes the necessary arrangements, said donations had been affected due to the pandemic and looked for time. additional to pay the amount.
The court said it would not approve an order at this time. “Let the (Kerala) government consider the request,” the higher court said, adding that all its previous orders in the case had been followed.
Regarding the audit of the temple accounts, the court said it would resume in mid-September.
A bench of two judges from Judges UU Lalit and Indu Malhotra heard the case.
In July last year, the court, which overturned a verdict of the Kerala High Court and upheld the royal family’s right to manage the temple, said that the state would initially pay all expenses related to the security and maintenance of the temple, and that this will later be reimbursed.
The court also left the former royal family to decide on the opening of a secret vault that has been closed for years. The family had argued that the opening of the vault, called “Kallara” in Malayalam, would bring misfortune because of a curse.
The sprawling temple, an architectural splendor in granite, was rebuilt in its present form in the 18th century by the Royal House of Travancore, which had ruled southern Kerala and some adjacent parts of Tamil Nadu before the integration of the princely state with the Union India in 1947.
After being closed to the public since the Covid shutdown in March, the temple reopened on August 26, albeit with certain restrictions. It was temporarily closed again in October after 12 staff members, including 10 priests, tested positive for coronavirus.
In addition to standard Covid protocols – wearing face masks, using hand sanitizers, and maintaining social distance – the temple has also restricted the number of devotees allowed per day. Devotees cannot touch the idol, walls or any other surface either.
Kerala has the highest number of active Covid cases in the country, over 64,000, and has so far reported nearly 4,000 virus-related deaths.
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