An Extraordinary Treasure Trove discovered at Sree Padmanabha swami temple in Thiruvananthapuram, India.
One media report talks of 450 golden pots, 2,000 rubies and jewel-studded crowns, 400 gold chairs and the statue of a deity studded with 1,000 diamonds. Apparently, all this amounted to 65 "treasure sacks", thought to be worth 25bn rupees (£353m; $500m), which is a sum close to India's budget for education. The truth is that all of this is speculation, and the people who were sent to value the riches have been told to submit the inventory and its value to the court.
The royal family of India's erstwhile southern kingdom of Travancore has a long history of resistance. A year before independence in 1947, the kingdom - one of more than 500 princely states - raised the banner of revolt and demanded freedom for itself.
"Travancore will become an independent country," a feisty representative said in 1946. "There was no particular reason why we should be in a worse position than Denmark, Switzerland and Siam." It was no empty talk from a proud dynasty. They downed a Dutch fleet in 1741, a rare example of an Asian state inflicting a naval defeat on a European power.
But finally, under immense pressure, the kingdom relented and joined India. One of the things the family was allowed to retain was its magnificent 16th Century Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple.
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Tags: An Extraordinary Kerala temple, Treasure, Golden pots, Temple, History, Sree Padmanabha swami temple, Thiruvananthapuram, India
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