Scientists managed to find six storerooms in the Padmanabhaswamy temple, the entrances to which were walled up. No one has entered these rooms in the last 140 years, at least. Utradana Varma was personally present at their autopsy. In the storerooms were countless treasures.
Padmanabhaswamy is considered to be one of the oldest Hindu temples. The first mentions of it date back to the 4th century BC. The temple is located in the city of Thiruvananthapuram - the capital of the present Indian state of Kerala.
The main hall of the temple building is decorated with frescoes depicting various mystical stories, and is intended to store the main shrine - a unique statue of Vishnu, who is in the Anananthasayanam pose, that is, in an eternal mystical dream.
The 5.5 m high statue was built from 10,008 Shalagramashil (sacred stones) and covered with gold and precious stones.
However, a few years ago it turned out that both the majestic temple and the magnificent sculpture are only a visible part of Padmanabhaswamy's wealth. Moreover, an ancient curse hung over the province of Kerala.
The fact is that in 2009, the famous Indian lawyer Sundara Rajan wrote a petition to the Supreme Court of India: he demanded the opening of the storerooms of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple, which were sealed more than 130 years ago. The lawyer worried that without proper supervision and accounting, the treasures could simply be looted.
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In February 2011, the historical monument was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Kerala state government.
Despite the wrath of believers, who believed that robbing the gods was not allowed to anyone, including the authorities, a special government commission executed the decision of the Supreme Court and opened the temple caches in order to take an inventory of valuables.
What was discovered inside the five secret underground rooms shocked the whole world: chests with about 1 ton of gold coins, 1 ton of gold bullion and jewelry, bags of diamonds and other precious stones.
In one of the vaults, they found crowns inlaid with emeralds and rubies, gold necklaces, a 5.5 m gold chain, a 36-kilogram gold "canvas", rare coins from different countries, as well as an amazing statue of the god Vishnu lying on the snake Ananta-Sheshe, made made of pure gold and having a height of 1.2 m.
According to preliminary data, the found treasures are estimated at almost a trillion Indian rupees, which is more than $ 20 billion in gold equivalent. This is more than the budget of the entire capital district of Delhi!
According to Indian archaeologists and researchers, they had no idea how impressive the found treasure would be.
However, the curses threatened by the priests of Vishnu stop the top officials of Kerala from taking decisive action. And the most striking example of the fact that it is unreasonable to dismiss the threats of the priests was the mysterious death of the initiator of the sacrilege.
Less than a week after the opening of the treasures, seventy-year-old Sundar Rajan suddenly died. A physically strong man, who had never before complained about his health, suddenly died, and the autopsy did not establish the exact cause of his death.
Of course, many Indians did not believe the reports in the press and regarded his death as a punishment for Vishnu for disturbed sleep.
This cache was not opened simultaneously with five other rooms, since it was sealed with a special "sign of the serpent" that guards the rest of Vishnu. And it's not even about the treasures that are stored there.
There is a legend that in the room, sealed with the "sign of the serpent", is kept a kind of inviolable reserve of the Vishnu temple. It is forbidden to touch the gold and jewelry stored there.
Only in the most extreme case - the legend says - will the priests, after a special ceremony, be allowed to open the door to the treasury, which is guarded by a huge three-headed cobra with ruby eyes. Those who try to enter the dungeon without permission will face a terrible death.
So the cherished door has not yet been opened. One of the ministers of the temple even gave under oath testimony that it is impossible to open the "door with a snake" - this promises everyone innumerable troubles.
“Whether the treasures found are a punishment or a blessing for one of the poorest Indian states, time will tell. One thing can be said with certainty: for the authorities of the state of Kerala, money would definitely not be superfluous,”said the German weekly Der Spiegel.