NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday ordered a detailed inventory of sacred ornaments belonging to the Sabarimala deity under the supervision of retired Kerala High Court Judge Justice C N Ramachandran Nair.
The bench was acting on the advice of Attorney General KK Venugopal, who was representing the Kerala government.
Venugopal cited the example of Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple in Kerala where an inventory was prepared to ensure that treasures valued at lakhs of crores of rupees are not replaced with fake items.
Venugopal submitted a list of ornaments belonging to Lord Ayyappa that were in the government’s possession. After perusing it, the bench expressed surprise.
“Are there only 16 ornaments?” it asked.
Venugopal said the rest was with the Pandalam royal family. He urged the court to direct the royal family to submit the full inventory and allow a jeweller to assess them for their valuation.
But K Radhakrishnan, appearing for the royal family, said.
“This is an attempt by the state to take indirect control of the jewellery.”
Raja Raja Varma, a member of the family, had sought directions to enable senior members to access the jewellery.
Infighting within the royal family
On February 5, the top court had taken note of internal bickering and prolonged litigations in the Pandalam royal family, which is the custodian of sacred ornaments of Sabarimala temple. The court then asked the government to suggest measures to safeguard the treasures.