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Reuters
A vault in the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple contained riches of more than $ 20 billion (£ 16 billion)
An ancient royal family may continue to run a temple in India that is one of the richest places of worship in the world, the country’s Supreme Court has ruled.
After the death of the family patriarch, the Kerala state government tried to take over the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple.
The Kerala High Court ruled in favor of the government, a decision now reversed by the Supreme Court.
When one of the temple vaults was opened in 2011, it was found to contain wealth of more than $ 20 billion (£ 16 billion).
This included sacks full of diamonds, gold coins, and jewelry.
The Hindu temple, located in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, contains another vault that has not yet been opened. The Travancore family argues that opening it will unleash a mythical curse on the state.
But there have been allegations that some of the temple’s treasures have disappeared, including a centuries-old flute made from ivory.
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The High Court ruling in 2011 came after the death of Travancore’s last Maharaja ruling, Sri Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, in 1991.
Reversing this decision on Monday, Supreme Court Justices UU Lalit and Indu Malhotra said: “We allow the appeal of the Travancore royal family. Death does not affect Shebaitship [management and maintenance of religious deities] of the Travancore family. “
The court added that a new committee created by the Travancore family to administer the temple would have the right to decide what to do with the temple’s wealth, including the contents of the unopened vault.
Gauri Lakshmi Bai, a family member, told reporters: “A large number of devotees had prayed for us. The trial is their victory.”
