THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Strange as it might sound, the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple - one of the richest, if not the richest in the country, with a treasure trove of gold valued at over C1 lakh crore - has been forced to rely on good samaritans and well-wishers to raise money for conservation. The temple authorities had recently sought a discount on teak to be purchased from the Forest Department for erecting a new flag mast. Following this, the government offered 21 per cent discount on the teak needed by the temple. The temple authorities have been carrying out conservation work of the Padmanabhaswamy temple at a cost of around `10 crore.
V Ratheesan, Temple executive officer, told Express the temple administration had sought a 50 per cent discount on the purchase of teak required for the conservation work apart from the centage fee. The government offered a discount of 21 per cent which will come to around Rs. 4 crores. The funds required for the conservation work is collected from devotees and well-wishers, he said.
The Forest Department charges centage fee when it allows selection of woods without auction. This is an additional charge for the facility they provide for the selection of woods without auction. As part of the Tourism Ministry’s Swadesh Darshan Scheme, the renovation of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple premises - which is in the final stage - is being carried at a cost of Rs.78.55 crores.
However, the funds for the conservation of the temple has to be sourced from government and non-government agencies in the wake of a Supreme Court direction. The temple has a collection of Rs 3.65 crore annually, which doesn’t need to pay the employee wages and pensions, said Ratheeshan. Unlike Guruvayur, where revenue, including Hundi collection, is very high than any other temple here, in the case of the Padmanabhaswamy temple, revenue is a matter of a concern for the administrators, said officers.
However, according to the Tourism Department stats, there has been a considerable increase in tourist inflow to the temple, especially after news broke of temple’s vast riches. A rise in pilgrim numbers to Padmanabhaswamy temple had pushed up the footfall in Thiruvananthapuram city to 12.17 lakh in 2017, a rise of 18.63 per cent over the pilgrim numbers in 2016. The growth rate is 47.04 per cent over the one registered in 2013.
Discount for flagmast
The temple had recently sought a discount on teak to be purchased from the Forest Department for erecting a new flag mast. Following this, the government offered 21 pc discount on the teak needed by the temple. The temple has been carrying out conservation work of the Padmanabhaswamy temple at a cost of around Rs. 10 crores.