SC upholds rights of Travancore royal family in administration of Padmanabhaswamy temple "EMPOWER IAS"

News:

• SC upholds rights of Travancore royal family in administration of Kerala temple

 

Key Highlights 

• The Supreme Court with its current verdict has overruled the 2011 verdict of the Kerala High Court, in which the court had directed the state government to set up a trust to take control over the administration, management and assets of Kerala’s Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple.
• An SC bench headed by Justice U U Lalit, in a historic verdict, upheld the rights of the Royal Family of Travancore in the administration of the temple.
• The apex court’s verdict came against a batch of petitions that were filed against the January 31, 2011 verdict of the Kerala High Court. 
• The Supreme Court observed that the death of the last Travancore ruler, who signed the covenant, does not affect the rights of the Shebaitship Travancore family over the temple. The rights will survive as per the customs, the court-ordered. 
• The last ruler of Travancore had managed the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple by powers conferred on him, until his death in 1991.
• The case had reached the court in the wake of charges of alleged financial irregularities.
• The apex court ruled that as an interim measure, the District Judge of Thiruvananthapuram will head an administrative committee to oversee the affairs of the temple till a new committee is constituted. 
• The Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is one of the world’s richest temples.

 

Who had the ownership, control and management of the Padmanabhaswamy temple before 1991?

• All the temples which were under the control and management of the erstwhile Princely States of Travancore and Cochin were under the control of the Travancore and Cochin Devaswom Boards before 1947.
• However, as per the Instrument of Accession signed between the princely states and the Government of India, since 1949, the administration of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple was “vested in trust” in the Ruler of Travancore. The state of Kerala was carved out in 1956 but the temple continued to be managed by the erstwhile royals.
• In 1971, privy purses to the former royals were abolished through a constitutional amendment stripping their entitlements and privileges. The move was upheld in court in 1993 and the last ruler of Travancore who died during the pendency of this case continued to manage the affairs of the temple till then.
• In 1991, when the last ruler’s brother took over the temple management, it created a furore among devotees who moved the courts leading to a long-drawn legal battle. The government joined in; supporting the claims of the petitioner that Marthanda Varma had no legal right to claim the control or management of the temple.

 

About Padmanabhaswamy Temple –

• The Padmanabhaswamy temple is heavily influenced by the Dravidian style of architecture, which is why it resembles a lot of the temples in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu with its tall gopuram and high walls and intricate carvings.
• Vishnu is the presiding deity of the Padmanabhaswamy temple and is also the ‘ruler’ of Travancore. He was ‘crowned’ as the Emperor of Travancore in the 18th century and members of the royal family rule as regents on his behalf. Which is also why the royal crown of Travancore has been preserved inside the temple.
• Celebrated once every six years in January, the Laksha Deepam festival is the biggest festival of the Padmanabhaswamy temple. The festival gets its name from the lighting of a hundred thousand (one lakh or Laksha) lamps inside the temple and its premises. Held on the day of Makar Sankranti, the festival marks the end of 12 Bhadradeepams, a seven-day ritual that is held twice every year. On the day images of Padmanabha, Narasimha and Krishna are taken out on Garudavahana (Vishnu’s mythical eagle) in a grand procession.
• An image of Padmanabha or Vishnu reclining on the serpent Anantha or Adi Sesha is the centre of the Padmanabhaswamy temple. With his right hand placed over a Shiva lingam, Vishnu is flanked by Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity and Bhudevi, the goddess of Earth. Bramha is shown to emanate from Vishnu’s navel. Interestingly, the image of Vishnu is made out of 12,000 shaligrams or fossilized shells that can be traced back to the banks of Nepal’s Gandaki River.
• In 2011 a treasure was revealed from its cellars. The treasure was valued $1 trillion at the time of its discovery making the Padmanabhaswamy Temple the richest in the world. To put this into perspective, the entire Mughal treasury at the zenith of its power could be valued at $90 billion.