My acquaintance with Virag Dhulia

Is it just a co-incidence? 28th of September was the birthday of a person whom I married and had a turbulent relationship with, at times feeling confused on what to do. The next day, the 29th of September is the birthday of Virag Dhulia, a guy whom I got recently acquainted with, who would get me out of the mess with my marital life and bring peace back into my life.

It is just by chance that when I was desperately looking for some information or rather help from internet on the ways to handle or face a marital discord, that I stumbled into the blog of legal fighter a.k.a Virag Dhulia's blog.(http://legalfighter.wordpress.com/2014/05/01/me-and-mens-rights/) After reading out the blog, a strong desire arouse in me to get in touch with this person. However, there was no contact info in the blog. After googling around a bit, I found out that Virag and his team are hosting a conference on men's rights. Men's rights? What's this? It did not click to me at all on what this conference would be all about. Media is flooded about women empowerment and women's rights - so much that ordinary people like me are completely unaware or rather refused to see the reality.

Anyways, I thought of attending this conference as it would give me a perception about the topic they would be talking on along with meeting this guy - Virag Dhulia.
On the first day of the conference, I entered the hall, where I could see some 15-20 people arranging things. As my eyes scanned through them wondering which one of them could be Virag, an elderly lady came to me and asked "so, how long was your marriage?". I was taken aback by this question at first, but replied that it was about a year and a half. When I enquired about her, she told "I'm Neena Dhulia, Virag's mother".

The conference then detailed on the history of the Men's rights movement, the challenges being faced now, identifying who the trouble makers are, and why we need to fight them out. I slowly realized that the root of the problems I faced in my marital life which I used to blame my MIL for, was not either my wife or my MIL, but the system and the attitude of the society itself. Anyways, the conference went on for two days, but I could not get acquainted with him in the conference.

The acquaintance started when I joined Confidare (http://www.confidareindia.com/) as a member.  I started attending their weekend sessions where victimized men often came for help, often stories which were much worse than mine. Virag would patiently listen to their stories, sometimes for hours at a time and offer consolation, counselling, strategies to protect himself from his in-laws, wife, the legal establishment, and in some cases parents as well !

It took some time for me to know Virag well.
* His was the first instance where I heard that he had booked his in-laws under dowry prohibition.
* He is the author of two books on men's rights. (The secrets on manhood - parts 1 & 2)
* Virag was invited by the Rajya Sabha to express his views on "sexual harassment at workplace"
* Virag is also part of the team which has been asked by Law commission of Karnataka to submit a research report on dowry law misuse.
* Virag was also instrumental to put forth a proposal to Rajya Sabha - a bill to safeguard men, titled 'Saving Men from Intimate Terror Act" or SMITA in short.

Our country has a long history of celebrating not victors nor losers, but the ones who are fighters, who had the courage to take on the establishment to protect dharma a.k.a justice and equality.

As far as the people whom I have met in the recent times, there are only a handful of them, whom I have admired at and Virag is definitely one among them. Today, being his birthday, I pray that the lord bless him with strength, confidence, courage of conviction in his fight for justice and equality. A very happy birthday to you, Virag.

Are they just ‘useful idiots’?

See this list of seculars and liberals. Justice Rajinder Sachar, author of the famous Sachar Committee Report on the state of Indian Muslims; Dileep Padgaonkar, one of the three interlocutors on J&K appointed by the central government; Harish Khare, the media adviser to the prime minister; Rita Manchanda, the India/Pakistan Local Partner for Women Waging Peace; Ved Bhasin, editor, Kashmir Times; Harinder Baweja, editor (investigations), Headlines Today; Gautam Navlakha and Kamal Chenoy, human rights activists, and; Praful Bidwai, well-known columnist. This is the illustrative list of popular Indian liberals who exert powerful influence over the Indian discourse — be it on Kashmir or secularism or on corruption or communalism or on Narendra Modi or Sonia Gandhi.


But this is not the list of probables for the Padma awards. This is the list of those who have been the guests of Ghulam Nabi Fai, who was arrested three days back by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the US for acting as the front man of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). The Washington Times (July 19, 2011) reported that Fai “was arrested Tuesday by FBI agents in a suspected influence-peddling scheme to funnel millions of dollars from the Pakistani government, including its military intelligence service, to US elected officials to help drive India out of the disputed Kashmir territory in South Asia”. Fai was arrested in US not for working to drive India out of Kashmir — as it is not an offence under the US law — but for the offence of funnelling ISI money to buy influence over US officials for Pakistan. Under the Indian law, the case against the Indian liberals in Fai’s list may well be one of sedition if they had known who Fai was, or if they had not, they could be well just his “useful idiots” as a former editor, R Jaganathan, wrote in his brilliant column in firstpost.com. But are they just useful idiots or more?

The 45-page affidavit by the FBI in the case has charged Fai with “conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign principal”. Media reports that the FBI swears in its affidavit that Fai, who floated the Kashmir American Council (KAC), was a front man for Pakistani interests in US in the garb of Kashmiri’s. The reports say that Fai “took dictation from his masters” in Pakistan. The media cites the FBI affidavit to say that Fai received at least $4 million — at some $500,000 to $700,000 every year — to manipulate the Kashmir debate in favour of Pakistan. And this is important. This is where the Indian liberals listed at the opening are party to advancing the designs of Fai. They had been attending the conclaves and meets organised by Fai, at the instance of ISI, to oust India from Kashmir.

The FBI seems to have worked meticulously to link Fai to his masters in Pakistan. It appears to have got the details of some 4,000 e-mail and telephone exchanges with his handlers in Pakistan. An accomplice of Fai seems to have confessed — as a confidential witness for FBI — that Fai was a henchman of ISI. According to the confidential witness, cited by the media, the ISI “created the KAC to propagandise on behalf of the government of Pakistan”. Fai could play this role unsuspectingly because he was originally from India, being born in Kashmir, with a master’s degree from Aligarh Muslim University. After becoming an ISI agent, according to reports, he began to do what Pakistan and ISI directed him to do, namely hold conferences and seminars funded by ISI for which he was sourcing the propaganda material of the ISI. According to the report, the confidential witness seems to have confessed that, “of the statements Fai makes, 80 per cent are provided by the ISI for Fai to repeat and disseminate verbatim. The other 20 per cent of the KAC’s messaging consists of Fai’s own ideas, which have been pre-approved by the ISI”. So Fai is a hundred per cent ISI mouthpiece.

Our liberals figuring in the list participated as important speakers from India in the conventions and seminars organised by Fai, now charged by FBI as an ISI agent. According to reports, Fai, assisted in his objectives by our liberals, was so effective in hurting India’s interests, that, to counter him, the Indian government specially had to appoint Wajahat Habibullah, a Kashmir cadre IAS officer who retired last year, as minister, community affairs, in its embassy in Washington. Imagine. On the one hand, the present media adviser to the prime minister and one of the three present interlocutors of the government on J&K had worked to hurt India’s interests in the way the ISI was conspiring to do, by participating in the seminars organised by Fai and funded by ISI to “drive out India from Kashmir”; and on the other, the government of India was forced to send out an IAS officer from Kashmir cadre to contain that damage. The result is that those who, through Fai, were part of the ISI design, are now part of the UPA government.

But could Fai with his mission to push Pakistan/ISI agenda “to drive India out of Kashmir” include in his efforts such important opinion-makers of India, unless he knew that their views would advance his master’s interests? Why would Fai not call an Arun Shourie? A Cho Ramaswamy? An M J Akbar? An Arnab Goswami? It is self-evident. Their views would stall, not support, the ISI. Undoubtedly, Fai knew that the views on J&K publicly held by our liberals in Fai’s guest list would further the cause of the separatists. Now, is it easy to dismiss that they were just “useful idiots”?

PS: Two of these liberals are still in high positions — one is an interlocutor on J&K appointed by the Centre and the other is the media adviser to the PM. Mr Prime Minister, this is evidence coming, not from our police, but from the FBI in the US, the country you love most! Are you listening?

The writer is a well-known commentator on political and economic issues.

E-mail: comment@gurumurthy.net

Padmanabha dasas and political class

http://expressbuzz.com/biography/Integrity-of-Padmanabha-dasas/291645.html
- S Gurumurthy
The wealth of Lord Padmanabhaswamy, kept unbelievably safe, so far counted is estimated at Rs1 lakh crore. The committee appointed by the Supreme Court has till July 2 so far opened five of the six closed chambers in the temple and inventoried the contents leaving one yet to be unsealed. Here is the brief history of the Lord’s wealth and its significance.


In 1750, King Marthanda Varma, the most powerful of the Travancore rulers, pledged that he and his descendents would serve the kingdom as servants of Lord Padmanabha (‘Padamanabha Dasa’) the Lord being the King. The British had observed the tradition and honoured the Lord with a 21-gun salute.

When the Indian states were merged, independent India appointed the Travancore royal head as the Raj Pramukh; but he preferred to be known as Padmanabha Dasa, not as Raj Pramukh.

The government had continued to honour the tradition of gun salute to the Lord till 1970 when, along with the abolition of princely titles, the honour to the Lord was withdrawn! Yet, even today Lord Padmanabha is regarded as the deity of Travancore. To cut a long story short, the Travancore royalty was the servant-trustee of the Lord. M G Gopalakrishnan, a historian of Kerala, says that Tipu Sultan, who had invaded Malabar and destroyed many temples, had conquered Thrissur in 1789 and made it his headquarters, posing a threat to Travancore.

This seems to have persuaded Dharma Raja, the then king of Travancore royalty to bury and seal the wealth of the Lord in secret chambers to keep it beyond the reach of the invader. But, in 1790, Tipu withdrew from Thrissur when the British raided Mysore, de-risking Travancore from invasion. Still Dharma Raja and his successors opted to keep the Lord’s treasure buried, safe from risk of loot.

This is how Justice C S Rajan, member of the committee to inventory the treasure, describes the Lord’s treasure which speaks for itself: “The secret cells were like a dream world, unbelievable and unexplainable. Huge stones, which a team of eight strong men had to struggle to remove, had been placed well to conceal the cells. The cells were small. They could accommodate only four-five persons. The invaluable treasure - gold, gems, stones - offered to the deity by the Travancore royalty, from time to time had been kept in teakwood boxes stacked one over the other. Whenever the kings or their friends or other kings had darshan of the Lord, they used to offer gold coins; one lakh such coins have been found. It is all temple property”.

The Justice is only saying the obvious, as does M G S Narayanan, the historian. And this is precisely what the Indian Treasure Trove Act says, under which only unclaimed wealth discovered is declared as state property. Here the Lord, a juridical person under the law, is the owner of the wealth.

What has been missed in the discourse on the Lord’s wealth hijacked by hype and excitement is that even when the Travancore royals were in danger of losing their kingdom, they never thought of touching the Lord’s wealth. When Tipu was driving down southwards, the kingdom itself was at risk. And yet, the royalty had continued to keep it buried so that it ever remained the wealth of the Lord; it did not unseal it even after the danger had diminished. This shows the unmatched height of honesty and integrity of the trustees, the royal family.

Had any one of the several successors in the royal family been less than absolutely honest, the whole or part of the Lord’s wealth would have moved from the secret chambers to their personal chambers. Nothing of that sort happened for 158 years from 1789 to 1947. In 1947, when the Indian states merged into the Indian Union, the Travancore royalty totally lost its power and wealth. And yet the wealth of the Lord hidden by Dharma Raja remained untouched.

Thanks to such high character and morals in the Travancore royalty, the wealth of the Lord remains intact. The nation should be grateful to the successive members of the Travancore royalty for maintaining such high standards of morality and trusteeship. But with the media hyping the Lord’s wealth wrongly as the treasure trove, some, whose right thinking seems to have left them, even began saying that it should be taken over by the state, and kept in exhibition!

And more. If the Padmanabhaswamy wealth was global news, the 98 kg of gold and `11.5 crore brought to account by the trustees in Satya Sai Baba’s ashram in Puttaparthi earlier had made national headlines. The trustees of the Satya Sai Trusts ensured that the gold and the cash were inventoried in the presence of respectable witnesses - former judges of courts - and deposited in banks.

Had any of them - or any one else in the ashram - been less than honest, would they have deposited the gold or the cash in bank? If they had removed any part of the cash or gold, no one would have come to notice it. In spite of gold worth over Rs 70 crore and cash of Rs 11.5 crore having been duly deposited, the media went hysterical - and some continue to make noise - in respect of a comparatively small amount Rs 35 lakh (some 2 per cent of the cash and gold deposited) seized by the police from a contractor to whom it is claimed to have been paid by devotees for constructing the samadhi of Sai Baba.

While why there should have been un-deposited gold or cash could be a genuine question for the trustees to answer, the trustees certainly deserved a word of compliment for having brought to account the gold and cash offered to Sai Baba when he was alive.

PS: It cannot end without an inevitable question. Can the political class today lay claim to the kind of honesty that the Padmanabha Dasas and the Baba trustees have shown?

Do the treasures belong to the temple?

http://expressbuzz.com/opinion/op-ed/do-the-treasures-belong-to-the-temple/292407.html

The question whether the treasures (temple offerings) recently brought to light in the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple belong to the state or the temple is debated, with some asserting they belong to the state while others claim they belong to the temple. But neither of them seem to know either the ancient tradition or the modern situation. The entire nation and perhaps the world must pay the highest tribute to the Maharajas of Travancore and their families for having preserved this collection meticulously all these years as true servants of Padmanabhaswamy as they called themselves Padmanabha Dasas.


The main question that has escaped the debaters is to whom were these offerings made? There is no doubt that these were devout offerings to Lord Padmanabha. We have tens of thousands of written records by way of inscriptions spread all over the country from early historical times to modern times which show that such offerings were made to the God and not to the temple. From the second century BC to the modern times the offerings were recorded to have been made to the deity. In the Pallava inscriptions assignable to 3rd or 4th century we find specific mention that the gifts were made to the deity. There are many inscriptions from Kerala almost from 9th century onwards recording gifts to the deities.

A question that caused intricate examination was whether an all-pervasive and omnipotent God could be treated as a juristic entity. Whether He can own property? The ancient Indians got over this subtle and abstract theological point by holding that God acts through his representative. In the case of Siva temples the transactions were made in the name of Chandikesvara, and in the case of Vishnu temples it was Vishvaksena and so on.

This question had come up in many court cases in the late 19th and 20th centuries in different parts of India during the British rule. In all these cases the courts have delivered judgments that the main deity is accepted as a jurist entity. The latest significant judgment on this point came in the London Nataraja case wherein the trial judge of the London High court mentioned that in the western world this question does not arise because they do not believe God could be a juristic person, but in India and Asian countries this is an accepted position in law. Delivering his judgment the judge observed that the ruined Chola temple of Pattur, so long as even one stone belonging to the temple built by the Chola chieftain remains in situ, the temple continues to exist in the eye of law and has the right to own the property and so the metal image of Nataraja must be returned to the temple. The judge came to this conclusion after examining many decisions of court cases conducted in India. According to the ancient Hindu law (the Dharma Sastras) one cannot make a gift unless it is legally acquired. (The ancient Indian law does not permit acceptance of illegal money or the conferment of spiritual merit for the same). Such gifts are brought under the category called Dana. This is signaled by the donor who had the legal right of ownership relinquishing his right over the material or property gifted, by pouring water in the hand of the donee. An exemplary instance of 12th century in 1111 AD (exactly 900 years ago ) is recorded in an inscription in which Kulottunga Chola I entered in the Uraham temple of Kanchipuram and his queen gave a golden vessel with water and the king made a gift of land by pouring water in the hand of the Lord. Once the gift is made he had no further claim over it.

All the money, jewels, coins, etc. found in the Padmanabhaswamy Temple were presented with great veneration and with sincere prayers that their family and the public at large will be bestowed with prosperity.

According to a modern professor who neither knows ancient history nor modern historical data, the kings acquired these treasures by looting in wars. But, according to ancient Hindu law, recorded in the Raja Dharma of the law books, the king had the right to capture treasures in war and it becomes his legal property.

These do not invite the provisions of the Treasure Trove Act for the simple reason that the ownership of this wealth is not under question, but is well known and is documented even in living memories and was not found lying buried. These were kept safely in the temple bhandaras, as they were meant for use when required and its ownership by the Deity Padmanabha is beyond dispute. Another curious suggestion is that they should be arranged in a museum for the people to see. This question also came up in the London High Court in which I appeared as a witness. The judge asked me the question “Suppose I give you back this Nataraja would you like to have it in the temple or in museum, where visitors could see? And the judge wanted me to answer as an archaeologist and not as a devout Hindu. I answered it must be back in the temple. “Why?” asked the judge.

I replied that the main intention of the donor was not to make it an exhibit in a museum, but it was a pious religious gift with many sacred acts associated with it, many other associated activities like music.

The judge agreed with me and mentioning it ordered the return of the image to the temple. If a foreign court could respect the piety and sentiments on scientific lines and return to the temple there is no reason why India should respond to these self-styled historians. Let us not forget that the priceless treasures in Indian museums are stored as junk with no proper preservation. Then the question arises who will administer these articles of wealth. Certainly not the state. First of all it is secular and secondly we know in the past few decades what has happened to the valuable treasures. The administration has to be in the hands of legally eligible to be the trustees as per the existing Acts. The Travancore royal families who have saved these wealth for Lord Padmanabha all these centuries should continue as the chief trustees with whatever safeguards required for preventing misuse. The state government quite rightly has taken the stand the status quo will continue and we are also happy that the learned judges of the Supreme Court have ordered what should be done. It is not the value of the wealth, but the greatness of Kerala that has been brought fully to the people of the world.

(The author R Nagaswamy is Former Director of Archaeology, Tamil Nadu.

Email: urnagaswamy@gmail.com

World’s richest gold-jewel collection?

http://expressbuzz.com/opinion/columnists/world’s-richest-gold-jewel-collection/292575.html
- T J S George

One thing is now clear: India is a very rich country, perhaps the richest in the world. Gold reserves play a decisive role in central banking around the globe, which makes the yellow metal a currency rather than a commodity. India has more of this currency than any other country.


It’s not in the hands of the central bank of course, but gold is gold. No other people have the fascination for gold that Indian people have. Many an economist has covetously said, that if the gold held by Indian households were made available for public purpose, then things like balance of payments, foreign exchange reserves, national debt and credit ratings would swing spectacularly in favour of India. The swing would be no less spectacular if the Indian deposits in private Swiss accounts were made available for legitimate use.

On top of all this, comes the mind-numbing news from Trivandrum. What has been discovered from the long-locked cellars of the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple must be the single most precious collection of gold-and-jewel artefacts in the world.

There is nothing like it anywhere, from Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace to Salarjung Museum, from the Vatican to the British Crown Jewels. It is several times bigger than Tirupathi Balaji Temple’s fabled gold, valued at Rs 52,000 crore. It reduces Sai Baba’s Yajur Mandir hoard of 98 kgs of gold to small change.

Two factors lend uniqueness to the Sree Padmanabha treasure. First, the way it was preserved with a sense of duty by the Maharajas of Travancore. This is one royal house that never built bejewelled palaces or led flamboyant lives. In fact, the last Maharaja lived a frugal life, stoically watching the state taking away the properties he had in Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi.

One temple vault was opened in 1931 and four coffers removed to the Palace Treasury for counting. But there was no evidence of any of the royals taking personal advantage of the inestimable wealth that lay in their absolute control. Gwalior and Patiala, Jaipur and Mysore, enjoyed their wealth and even claimed a bit of the political pie after independence. Travancore stayed in the background, content being Sree Padmanabha’s servants.

The other unique factor of the Kerala find is that it is not just gold and hundis. It comprises works of art. The valuation given to it in daily reports (one lakh crore rupees, with a major cellar yet to be opened) no doubt gave it a feel of gigantism, but it was completely meaningless. You can value a bar of gold by its weight. How do you value an exquisite “broom” made of intricately woven gold wires, intended to dust offerings to the Lord? Or a delicately wrought, jewel-encrusted crown? Or ancient, rarest-of-rare gold coins?

You need internationally recognised specialists to estimate the meaning as well as the value of such matchless pieces of craftsmanship. You also need scientifically foolproof and technologically up to date methods, to ensure their safe keeping. Just because they stayed safe for 150-200 years in dark and airless chambers, does not mean they can remain undamaged in those conditions for ever.

These challenges have prompted some rather extremist views already. That the Central government should take charge of the treasure is one, which would be tantamount to writing off the priceless collection, given the nature of today’s political class and bureaucracy. That communal control be ensured is another, which would go against the spirit of both Sree Padmanabha and his daasas who ruled all their subjects with equal vaatsalya.

The state government’s decision appears to be the wisest for now—that the treasure is the property of the temple, and must be protected as such without inconveniencing the devotees. Perhaps a scientifically secure structure can be erected within the temple complex and the treasure kept there appropriately curated and safeguarded. Let the world marvel at what a corner of India has made possible.

Padmanabhaswamy treasure is temple property

http://expressbuzz.com/opinion/columnists/padmanabhaswamy-treasure-is-temple-property/292582.html

Ever since the discovery of invaluable treasures in the vaults of Sri Padmanabha Swami Temple at Thiruvananthapuram, the secularists of various hues—atheists and Marxists—have been pleading for its transfer for public purpose like poverty alleviation programme. Apparently, either they have all missed the import and significance of these priceless findings or they think that Hindu temples are easy targets for such outright confiscation of what millions of devotees over centuries have donated as a demonstration of their faith.


Once you concede that these treasures have come from the devotees across centuries, there is no other rational explanation—the demand for confiscation is dishonest and an outright insult to their faith. Even Jesus Christ had said, when a Roman coin was shown to him, that one should give to God what is God’s and to Caesar what is Caesar’s, thereby keeping the assets of the two apart. This is the basis of public trust which succeeding generations should respect if society is to have any meaning.

Considering that such vast treasures stated to be worth Rs 1.50 lakh crore or more (antique values have still to be accounted for) were safely kept away from predators for such a long period through turbulent times, it is a tribute to the Travancore Royal family that they did not succumb to the temptation of appropriating at least some of it. The presence of treasure was never a secret. Most likely its extent and vast spread was not known.

For centuries, till today, the king visits the temple like everyone else with his upper torso exposed, underlying his position as the servant of the deity. After the temple visit, the king gets his feet cleaned only to

ensure that he did not carry even a particle of dust from the temple to his home. That was the scrupulous commitment the Hindu royalty had with referenced to the temple. It is, therefore, in the fitness of things that the newly installed UDF government in Kerala has refused to listen to the Leftist pleas to divert the treasure for purpose other than what the donees themselves wanted. It has also decided to consult the royal family regarding the upkeep

of the treasure.

In fact, the title “God’s Own Country” for Kerala comes from the large number of temples and their properties in the state. The Leftist evil influence in the state has seen to it that almost all the temples are deprived of the lands they had and instead depend upon government’s annual grants managed by special statutory

bodies called Devaswom Boards.

Not surprisingly, in the environment that the Congress and other ‘secularists’ have created in the country since Independence, the Hindu interests do not count and Hind sensibilities could be trodden down freely, but when it comes to Muslim and Christian sentiments, it is another matter. Any attempt to take over the properties of churches and masjids for better management immediately raises the ante.

Why is there not a body like Devaswom Board to take over and manage the considerable Church properties? Interestingly, I am told, there is a 60- year-old dispute between two factions of a Christian sect in central Kerala. Even violent incidents have happened in the scuffle for property among these but the state as such has refused to intervene. Why ?

With the discovery of so much wealth in the Padmanabha temple in Kerala, it is important that this does not go into the hands of the politicians of various hues and what is the temple property remains part of the temple itself. It may cost a fortune to protect this treasure, but it can be met from within, and need not be a burden on the state budget. Many countries do so to preserve their heritage by keeping them open for public viewing and charging a fee to meet the cost. God’s Own Country would only be adding to its tourist attraction by providing public access to this treasure trove for a fee.

The writer is a BJP MP. E-mail him at punjbalbir@gmail.com

God’s-own-greedy-politicians

http://expressbuzz.com/opinion/op-ed/god’s-own-greedy-politicians/292278.html

The recent discovery of the enormous wealth of gold, silver, precious stones and ornaments from Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram has excited the curiosity of the world. Orthodox Hindus are overjoyed because this temple may turn out to be the wealthiest Hindu temple in the world, far exceeding the riches of the temple in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh and the Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia.


Many greedy politicians and even scholars have come out with statements to the effect that the wealth belongs to the people and must be distributed in certain ways which they would like to prescribe. Some scholars even declared that it must be dealt with according to the Treasure Trove Act, confiscated by the state and handed over to the Archaeological Survey of India. In fact, such acts are to be applied to the unclaimed property dug up from archaeological sites. In this case there are clear records about the ownership and the trusteeship of the temple.

The kings of Travancore had the title of Sree Padmanabha Dasa, servant of Lord Padmanabha, from the time of Marthanda Varma Raja in the 18th century. They claim to be the successors of the Cheraman Perumals of Kodungalloor (Mahodayapura). When the last Cheraman Perumal, Rama Kulasekhara who came to throne in 1089 AD disappeared mysteriously at the beginning of the 12th century the feudatories (samanthas) became independent rulers of the respective principalities. The southernmost provinces of Venad and Aynad were combined to create the new kingdom of Travancore. The kings of Travancore accepted Sree Padmanabha (Vishnu reclining on the serpent with a lotus projecting from his navel) as their family deity.

The history of the temple can be traced back at least up to the 9th century when Vaishnavite saint Nammalvar composed his devotional songs about the Vishnu temples of Kerala known as Malainattu Thiruppatikal. The Padmanabhaswamy temple was recognised as one of the most sacred Vishnu temples of Kerala. There are references to this temple in several granite inscriptions on temple walls and copper plates in ‘Vattezhuthu’ script and Old Malayalam.

Following an old practice of village assemblies having the deity of the local temple as their president and acting in his name, Marthanda Varma surrendered his entire kingdom to Sree Padmanabha and offered to govern the country as his representative. This is known as Trippadidanam — the gift of the kingdom to the temple. There was a committee of eight members called Ettarayogam consisting of the Raja and eight Brahmin houses to manage the temple affairs and properties.

Fortunately, Travancore was one of the enlightened native states which kept administrative records very systematically and preserved them with great care. Documents from the 16th century onwards are available. Some years ago when this writer was nominated as chairman of the State Archives Advisory Council it was noticed that these administrative records numbered about one crore of palm leaf bundles.

The documents of the temple featuring routine payments, land revenue from temple properties, donations, offerings of gold and ornaments in the form of Prayaschitta or atonement, sales of prasadam etc, have been published under the title of Matilakam Granthavari. Great poet and scholar Ulloor S Parameswara Ayyar, who was also dewan peshkar under the monarchy of Travancore, edited and published several volumes of archival documents including a volume of records of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.

The Travancore State Manual of 1906 by Nagam Ayya contains the following brief account:

‘The temple is under the management of a committee known as Ettarayogam composed of eight Brahmin janmis with one vote each and the Maharaja who has but half a vote. It enjoys land revenue of more than Rs 75,000 a year, and is absolutely independent of the sirkar. The temple coffers are supposed to contain large quantities of money, gold, jewels and precious stones — the offerings of ages.’ (vol. 1, page 84)

There is no mix up in the records between state revenues and the temple revenue because the temple possessed a separate administrative set up under the committee. The maharajas also donated part of the booty acquired as a result of military operations to Padmanabha. This was a traditional practice in the middle ages. Thus Chola emperors like Raja Raja and Rajendra collected much gold ornaments and utensils from Kerala in the course of their conquests in the 10th century, and donated part of it to the Brahadeeswara temple in Tanjore. A long list of this plundered wealth of Kerala which went into the coffers of the great temple can be found among the Chola copper plates.

There is a collection of copper plates from Thiruvalla Vishnu temple in central Kerala which record the items carried to Thiruvananthapuram. Part of this also seems to have been donated to Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple. It is not surprising that all these contributions during a period of at least 1000 years have transformed Sree Padmanabha into a crorepati, invoking the jealousy and greed of politicians in Kerala.

Inscriptions of Kerala often contain the statement that any misuse of devaswom property (god’s property) will be treated as equal to one of the five great sins (Pancha maha pataka) described in Darmasastra literature. This must have prevented the appropriation of temple wealth by kings and officers of the temple. The geographical position of Kerala at the south end of the peninsula and the protection afforded by the Western Ghats effectively saved this land from all sorts of invasions by Hindu or Muslim rulers until the beginning of the modern era.

The constitution of India and the courts of law have granted the status of a legal entity to temple deities and entrusted the management of their property into the hands of the trustees who act singly or jointly as representatives of the deity. Therefore, this property clearly belongs to Sree Padmanabhaswamy and by virtue of the procedure of trusteeship the management rests in the hands of maharaja and his family unless there is any clause which modifies this position in the Instrument of Accession by which the native kingdom of Travancore was integrated with the Indian Union.

It is not a treasure trove nor is it public property — it is all the property of the temple. Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was absolutely correct when he declared that it is temple property and assured everybody that it will receive the protection of the state. We have the model of the administration of Tirupati temple where the Lord’s property has been rightly utilised for educational, social and cultural activity for the welfare of the people.

M G S Narayanan is former chairman, Indian Council of Historical

Research, New Delhi