A Temple of Gold

Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Trivandrum is in the news the world over for its colossal collection of gold and gems. The Kerala High Court had ordered the Kerala State Government to takeover the administration of the shrine. For fear of contempt of Court, I am not saying anything about the judgement.

Fortunately the Supreme Court of India intervened and appointed a seven member team to inspect the assets of the shrine managed by a Trust constituted by the Travancore Royal Family. Reportedly, complete records of what the secret cells contain already exist and that all along the Royal Family and the British were aware of it. But nobody would have estimated that it may be worth around   1,00,00,000 crores rupees. This is sure to upset the estimates given in my post India’s gold stockpile, Kerala’s gold rush

No harm rechecking the temple cache, but as the news spread, the police deputed an Addl. Director General of Police and an armed force to safeguard the valuables. So far, only Lord Padmanabha was doing that job.

What set these events rolling was, according to a TV debate yesterday, the usual Kerala muck - irresponsible trade unionism and unjustifiable monetary gains. What I understood was that there is friction between two trade unions (are they permitted in the Temple?), and a professional is inducing one of them to pursue the case.

According to what was said on TV this man is using Temple premises without rent or for a nominal rent; he had been asked to vacate but refuses. If this is true, the problems have been created for irrelevant and personal reasons.

Whether the Temple belonged to the Royal Family or the Royal Family and the Travancore State belonged to the Temple is an interesting point. After expanding the principality of Venad into the Travancore Kingdom Maharaja Marthanda Varma submitted himself and his State to Lord Padmanabha and in effect turned himself into a plenipotentiary of the Lord.  From that moment till now, the coffers of the Temple has been continuously filled and nothing was taken out.  

I was in Trivandrum during 1947 – 49 and heard this story which not many in the public might be aware of. When the Indian Independence was nearing there was a great deal of apprehension about what would happen to the private wealth of the Royal Family. An important gold and jewellery dealer from Bombay came in a chartered Dakota and took away the ornaments.  

But not a single piece was from the Temple though if the Palace wanted, the entire lot could have been carried away. The Travancore Royal Family’s culture does not permit taking back what it has given. Some of the storage rooms have not been opened for over a century.

Just to conclude the airlift story, what I have heard is that the man who took away the Palace jewellery came back later. He had a full list of the items taken, the market price at which they were sold, and the sales proceeds less his commission.  

The last of the Travancore Maharajas, Sri Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, after seeing part of the Temple treasure, is reported to have said, “Travancore will never have a famine”. The reason was that wealth was mainly meant to be used to obtain foodstuffs in case of a famine in the Kingdom.

I was shocked to hear V. Muraleedharan, BJP’s Kerala President saying, amongst other things, that the Travancore Royal Family has no right in the treasure. I have not bothered to check from which part of the State he is from. Apparently he does not know the culture of Travancore.

Let this gentleman realize that the Palace has made no claim that the treasure belongs to it. A bit of history also might not be a bad idea. At the beginning of the 18c, the Temple was managed by ettarakoottam, consisting of eight Ettuveettil Pillais and (half) Venad raja.

That Venad raja, Marthanda Varma, defeated the Pillais and took control of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. He defeated the Dutch at Colachal. His armies marched northward and created Travancore State. Marthanda Varma Maharaja submitted his kingdom to Lord Vishnu in Ananthashayanam. That was the beginning of the treasure.

Marthanda Varma and his descendants led a frugal life. They never touched the treasure but safeguarded it and made it grow. Muraleedharan should realize that no devotee would have knowingly made offerings if he did not have faith in Sree Padmanabha and Padmanabhadasa.

How the treasure is to be managed in future is a very important matter. A perfectly effective and safe scheme should be formulated. But any proposition without consulting   the Travancore Royal Family and obtaining its approval would be absolutely unjust.

Tragedy: Indian vs. Indian, Hindu vs. Hindu, Caste vs. Caste

Have you come across the news that I am writing about? It appeared on page 6 of the Chennai Edition of the Indian Express yesterday (June 25). It is absolutely shocking and hard to believe. Some of the details for the report are provided by Evidence, a Madurai (TN) based NGO.

Patchirajan, 48 years old Dalit, had gone to a pump on his motorcycle to put in petrol. Just behind him came a caste Hindu named Muthu from a neighbouring village in a van. He wanted to be served first. But Patchirajan objected since he had arrived ahead of the other. Muthu referred to Patchirajan's caste and abused him and hit him with an iron rod.

That was not the end.

Muthu must have got back into his van quickly and started it because the report says that he rammed the motorcycle with his vehicle. When the Dalit fell off, the van was driven over him. That was the end for Patchirajan. He succumbed to the injuries en route to the hospital. He is survived by his wife, son and daughter.

Muthu has been arrested for wilful murder under the Prevention of Atrocities Act and remanded to police custody. A spokesman of Evidence asserts that in such cases the culprits should be charged under every law which can be applied and not only murder.

One of my most read blog posts is Caste System: Is Kerala still a madhouse? Visiting Kerala a century back Vivekananda Swamy felt that he had wandered into a lunatic asylum. Another relevant blog post of mine is The Caste Wall Story

One feels so sad reading such news. Centuries pass but some people do not allow certain systems to go through necessary changes. If the question ‘What is Karma?’ is asked, they would not know the answer that it is a path to reach Brahman. Are they high caste or low caste?

Corruption is bad, communalism is terrible and campaigning against such evils is really noble. But what about casteism? Chaturvarna was never meant to generate clashes between social divisions. Anyway its rigidity and significance have naturally transformed with the passage of time.  

Is there some true Gandhian around to initiate a crusade? Educate the ‘high caste’ and ‘low caste’ that all of them have equal rights under the laws of India. That is unlikely because of political and other considerations. Counting the potential votes first is what matters to the netas.

But the schools can hopefully do something effective provided there is ample government support ignoring political platforms. Teach the children about Chaturveda objectively, not as part of Hindutva, but as history, as a system that has undergone transformations over the millenniums and would absorb more changes. Today there are Dalits who are not Hindus, even Dalits who are temple priests.

Will the Muslims and Christians go for their guns for teaching “Hinduism” in schools? If some netas feel that they could get political mileage they would tell the people that the subject is part of the cultural history of India and that knowing history is a basis of meaningful life.

Flower photos

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Figs – Medicine store in a tree

The photos given below were taken during my last trip to Olavipe. We call the tree athimaram and the fruit athipazham. I am told that in English it is known as Elephant Ear Fig tree or Giant Indian Fig and the botanical name is Ficus auriculata Lour. It grows wild, to about 10m or so height.

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Fig is an ancient fruit tree. Its cultivation is believed to have started two or three millenniums back. There are nearly 800 types of Ficus genus. This in the photo is one. They belong to the mulberry family. Fig is Brahma’s Holy Tree and is also mentioned in the Bible and the Koran. The banyan tree also belongs to this group and therefore is significant to the Buddhists as well. Adam and Eve, it is said, covered their nakedness with fig leaves when they were banished from Eden.

I think the most important fig is Ficus carica Linn [Moraceae]. Its nutritive index is 11 against 9 of apple. It is supposed to contain vitamins and minerals including vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, iron, calcium, manganese, phosphorus, sodium, potassium chlorine, Omega 3, Omega 6, calcium, Pectin and so on.

Some of the problems where Ficus carica is said to be helpful include, sexual weakness, smooth labour, lowering cholesterol, preventing coronary heart disease, protect against cancer, effectively control of diabetes, management of hypertension, resisting vision loss in elderly people, and strengthening of bones.  

The fruits are seasonal. But dried fruits are available in shops throughout the year. In fact, 80% of the production is consumed in dry form. In certain cases figs are used as replacement for sugar. They also have an important presence in the confectionery industry.

Fig is truly a wonderful fruit.

Photos: Hibiscus flowers

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The Kerala Political Scenario

Oommen Chandy is back as Chief Minister of Kerala and ready to lead the State to where he did five years ago – a landslide victory for the Left. In the recent election the surprise result was that the Congress and the UDF slipped from boasting of a 100 seat victory to a miserably narrow margin. Three people are mainly responsible for this verdict – Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala and VS Achuthanandan.  

The Achuthanandan government was a failure mainly because of the infighting in the CPI (M) and lack of experience of some ministers. But the former CM is a fighter. I have personally suffered because of his vettinirathal (scorched earth) policy some years ago. Also, in my opinion, Communism is an outmoded concept. But I do appreciate VS Achuthanandan’s leadership and determination.

  

I believe that this is a true event. During the Chinese War, VS was locked up in Poojappura Jail, Trivandrum, along with many Communist leaders. He committed a “great crime” by donating blood for the Indian soldiers. For this he was demoted from the Central Committee of the Communist Party to the State Committee. During his tenure as Kerala CM also he was relegated from the Polit Bureau (PB) due to pressure from the Party’s officialdom in the State.  In the last two elections, VS was initially denied seat. Finally the State unit had to give in because the party men wanted him. And Achuthanandan became the star.

State CPM leaders are still reluctant to acknowledge Achuthanandan’s contribution to the Party’s unexpectedly good performance. The Left had written off any hope in the election. Then one man stood erect and announced that LDF would win. He put the message across so effectively that the demoralized Comrades started believing him and waking up. They worked so hard that CPI (M) almost won.

What happened to the Congress? The overconfident leaders failed to galvanize the party members. Two aspirants for Chief Ministership first made sure that Central Minister Vayalar Ravi’s chance is blocked. They were sure that VM Sudheeran would only talk and not get into the act.

Then the question was Oommen Chandy or Chennithala? This adversely affected the Congress at every stage of the election process. The people of Kerala did not appreciate both of them contesting the election. People knew that both aspired the CM's post. Finally Oommen Chandy got the apple and Chennithala put up an unhappy looking brave face. The former also let fly a statement that Hindu consolidation against UDF was worrying. What does that mean?   If there was such a move shouldn’t the two leaders have realized it before the election?

One of the first acts of the new CM was to reportedly interfere in the Kannur University affairs. It is said that he wrote to the Governor who is the Chancellor that something was wrong with the University administration. It is doubtful whether he bothered to check the reality. His Congress people went on the war path and locked the Vice Chancellor in his room.  

The demand of the Congress was most ridiculous. They wanted a written undertaking from the Vice Chacellor that the University would obey the verdict of the Kerala High Court in a case that is going on about the technicality of an appointment. May be they didn’t know that every Indian is duty bound to abide by court judgements. They themselves were breaking the law and court judgements at that point of time.

The CPM is already on the war path. The Vigilance Department has been instructed by the Government to re-investigate a case against a ministerial nominee even though the charge sheet has been already filed and the matter is before the court. The Left is protesting. 

The list of Ministers has been finalized. The sad part is that a most suitable man is dropped – VD Satishan who scored a remarkable victory over Panyan Ravindran, the CPI leader at N. Parur in the recent election. The TV debate in which he so thoroughly humbled Thomas Isaac would be remembered for long by those who saw it. He is outstanding among the present lot of Congress men of Kerala. A strong, capable newcomer could be a challenge to those in comfortable positions. Therefore nip him in the bud or sidetrack him with Speaker post or something like that.

The Left of course is waiting. They seem to be confident that this Government would not last for long. Back to the polls? Or cross over of some from UDF to LDF? But the tension within the LDF might help the UDF. If Oommen Chandy makes a mess, Ramesh Chennithala might get a chance contribute his bit. Till the next elections.

God save God's own country.

     

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