Researchers around the world are wondering what exactly is hidden behind a mysterious iron door depicting two cobras protecting it at the Hindu temple of Padmanabhaswamy in India. This door has no locks, bolts, latches, or any other catches. It is believed to be hermetically sealed by means of sound waves.
The history of the Vishnu temple, which stores untold riches within itself, has long been shrouded in mystery and haunts the local rulers. In 2011, a government-created commission was able to break open six secret vaults inside the shrine and found a priceless treasure worth $ 22 billion. Only the seventh door could not be opened.
The Supreme Court of India is now trying to decide the fate of the enormous wealth stored in the basements of a Vishnu temple in the city of Thiruvananthapuram. We are talking about treasures, whose value, according to the most conservative estimates, is $ 22 billion. On the one hand, they are claimed by the descendants of the rajas, who have accumulated gold and precious stones for centuries. On the other, there are Hindu believers and the temple ministers' union. Meanwhile, the price of the issue could jump significantly higher, since not all the temple vaults have been opened yet, and the total value of the treasures located there is probably equal to a trillion dollars.
“When the granite slab was pushed aside, almost absolute darkness reigned behind it - it was diluted only by a dim ray of light from the doorway. I looked into the blackness of the pantry, and an amazing sight opened up to me: as if the stars twinkled in the sky on a moonless night. Diamonds and other precious stones flashed, reflecting the faint light coming from the open door. Most of the treasures were stacked in wooden chests, but over time the tree turned to dust. Gems and gold just lay in heaps on the dusty floor. I have never seen anything like it."
This is how the treasures of the Padmanabhaswamy temple were described by one of the members of the special commission appointed by the Supreme Court of India to inspect the treasury - kallara, in which the rajahs of Travankor, an ancient principality in the territory of the present state of Kerala, have stored their wealth for centuries. In the presence of the descendant of the rajahs, one of the vaults was opened to make sure that the ancient legends about the countless riches of the princely family do not lie.
Padmanabhaswamy is now guarded around the clock by 200 police officers. All approaches to the temple are monitored by surveillance cameras, metal detector frames are installed at the entrance, and machine gunners are located at key positions. These measures do not look excessive: although the members of the commission have undertaken to keep the complete list of the found treasures a secret, it is, at the most conservative estimates, about values that slightly exceed the budget of Croatia. Among the most notable solid gold exhibits are a full-size throne studded with hundreds of diamonds and other precious stones, 800 kilograms of coins, a chain five and a half meters long and a golden sheaf weighing more than half a ton.