The Supreme Court will pronounce its verdict on Monday on the dispute over the management of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, considered the country’s most prosperous. The matter has been pending in the Supreme Court regarding management and administration for the last nine years due to financial irregularities in this historic temple.
This magnificent temple of Lord Padmanabha (Vishnu) was rebuilt by the Travancore royal family in its present form in the 18th century. The same royal family ruled southern Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu adjoining it before it merged with the Indian Union in 1947. Even after independence, the temple was operated by a trust controlled by the erstwhile royal family, whose deity is Lord Padmanabha.
A bench of Justices UU Lalit and Indu Malhotra reserved its order on April 10 last year on petitions challenging the Kerala High Court’s January 31, 2011 judgment in the case. The High Court directed the state government to take steps to form a body or trust to manage the temple, its properties, and to operate the temple in accordance with the conventions. The apex court had on May 2, 2011, stayed the High Court’s directive regarding the management of the temple and control over the properties.
The court had also directed that a detailed description of the valuable items, ornaments in the treasury of the temple will also be prepared. The apex court had on July 8, 2011, said that the process of opening of the basement-B of the temple would stay till further orders. In July 2017, the court said that it would study the claims that there is a vast treasure of mysterious energy in a cellar of the temple.
