New Delhi, July 14 (IANS) The Supreme Court Thursday reserved its order on how to preserve and protect the treasure found in the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala. The court will pass its interim order Friday.


An apex court bench of Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice A.K. Patnaik said: "We are looking for an agency that could give suggestions addressing different dimensions of the security of the temple treasure."

"The said agency will identify who are the players, who will do which job (relating to protection and preservation of the treasure)," Justice Raveendran said.

"So long as the value of the treasure was not known, there was no threat to it. Unfortunately, since it is known now, its security and preservation is necessary," the court said.

In a brief order, the court asked the Kerala government and the erstwhile rulers of Travancore to submit suggestions on the protection and preservation of the valuables.

The court asked them to tell whether the treasure can be kept in the temple itself or housed in the museum adjoining it.

Diamonds, rubies, gold jewellery and other valuables worth an estimated Rs.1 lakh crore have been found in chambers of the temple by a Supreme Court-appointed team. Five of the six chambers have been opened so far.

In its affidavit, the state government told the apex court that the entire treasure belonged to the temple.

It told the court that the secretary of the state government who was the member of the team that oversaw the opening of the chambers informed that the treasure was not varied enough for display in a museum.

The court asked all the parties to the case to suggest names of curators who could determine the artistic, antique, historic and other value of the treasure.

The affidavit filed on behalf of the temple said that the treasure comprised of the offerings made to the deity and no part of it belonged to the ex-royal family of Travancore.

The affidavit said that security personnel could be posted within the temple but they will have to abide by the temple's dress code.

Member of the ex-royal family of Travancore Rama Varma, in his affidavit, said that the mere fact that the existence of treasure in the temple has become public was no justification for removing it from the temple.

Varma asked the court not to issue any direction as to how the valuable possessions of the temple be used and kept.

He said the court could at best issue guidelines to the trustees on how to generate funds from the wealth of the temple for utilisation by the temple trust.