The Temple And The Chamber Of Secrets

Hey there! Our India is filled with unsolved mysteries and this is one of my favourites. Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple is also called as the snake temple which is located in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. This temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The temple is a replica of Sri Adikesavaperumal Temple at Thiruvattar. This temple is widely famous for its unexplored secret vault that no human has ever seen.

The principal deity, Padmanabhaswamy, is enshrined in the “Anantha-sayanam” posture (in the eternal sleep of Yoga-nidra on the serpent Anantha). The Maharajah of Travancore bears the title, “Sree Padmanabhadasa’ (Servant of Lord Padmanabha). This temple is only open for strict Hindus and you have to follow a dress code. The answers to the questions about the construction and consecration of the temple are unknown. The temple was renovated many a times by different kings in different eras, in 1758, one ruler Sree Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma constructed magnificent Kulasekhara Mandapam. It is also called Aayiramkal Mandapam and Sapthaswaram Mandapam.

Among the six chambers is the temple, Bharatakkon Chamber is very closely associated with Sri Padmanabhaswamy. 28 pillars support it. The reason why it is called Sapthaswaram Mandapam is that the pillars present in four corners produce sound when tapped.

Now lets get back to the secret chamber, in 2011 the supreme court sent a seven member committee to open the vault, when opened the chamber contained diamond, gold, golden utensils, weapons, golden idols, golden elephants and a diamond necklace of 500 kg weight and 18 feet long and also found bags containing gold coins from different parts. While the vaults are named A, B, C, D, E and F for documentation reasons, all the vaults are opened 8 times a year, except for vault B which is considered as the most deadly and fearsome of all by many astrologers and the Trustee committee. It is said only a highly sacred Sadhu with the knowledge of Garuda Mantras can only be able to open it, and what if we open it with recent technologies it is said to bring a bad omen to occur during the temple premises and throughout India. Vault B is the largest of all six. According to the estimates of Travancore royal family made in the 1800s, and after adjusting all the parameters related to money, it is estimated that vault B alone would worth nearly INR 50 trillion or USD 700 billion.

It is said that in ancient times someone did try to open the gate forcefully of vault B but the snakes of the temple wreaked havoc and caused a major outbreak.

Even the chamber looks so cool it feels it is straight from Harry Potter and the Chamber of secrets and I hope I live to see it open someday.