Treasure !!

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As I type this, few of the cellars of the ancient Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple at Thiruvananthapuram have been opened under government and judicial supervision to reveal unexpectedly huge amounts of ancient treasures. The partial inventory that has been released compares well to the treasures Sindbad finds in exotic palaces on his maritime sojourns. As of now there are two cellars still left to be opened up and already the conservative estimates of the wealth runs into hundreds of billions of Rupees. The treasures were apparently stored in secret chambers complete with code marks and other rich symbols and symbolisms of a bygone “treasure” era.
Pay respects to the erstwhile rulers of Travancore who kept these assets in safe custody for all this while. Point to note is that lot of the artifacts could easily fit into the definition of personal articles (example: the throne of Kulasekhara Perumal that was used for the consecration of the King) and could have very well been kept in the personal possession of the rulers. Much has been written about the righteousness, simplicity and the achievements of the Travancore rulers and many more told to us by our parents/grand parents’ generation but this just proves them all to be possibly very true. In this age of rulers who cannot hold of a pot of public money/honey for a minute without putting their dirty fingers in, it is refreshing to know that there existed a dynasty that kept safe riches that would shame King Solomon for the sake of the Lord on behalf they ruled (they called themselves Padmanabha dasas – servants of Lord Padmanabha) and for the people they ruled.
a)      If this is not divinity, what is?
b)      Can such rulers be identified via a democratic process?

Back on to the more romantic topic of the treasure - I am reminded of the verse 8 of Vishnu Sahasra Nama that goes as below


The second stanza “Hiranya garbho bhugarbho madhavo madhusudana” in my translation (with a vested interest to commemorate the occasion) is “In the golden womb, Residing underground, Lord of the fortunes, O Madhusudhana (Slayer of the demon Madhu))
For more on the temple, the rulers and the treasure read on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padmanabhaswamy_Temple
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travancore
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/171905/secret-cellars-padmanabhaswamy-temple-opened.htmlhas

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