Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 11 (PTI) Veteran BJP leader Kummanam Rajasekharan on Friday flayed the recent remarks by legislators of ruling CPI(M) and the opposition Congress in Kerala favouring the exhibition of treasures in the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple here in a museum and said the statements revealed their business mindset.

A former governor of Mizoram, Rajasekharan, the Union government's representative in the temple administration panel, also wanted the authorities to declare the Sree Padmanabha Temple area as a non-fly zone.

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The centuries-old temple was neither a tourist centre nor a commercial establishment and all the priceless articles, kept in the vaults there, were devotionally offered to Lord Padmanabha, he said in a Facebook post

In the FB post, he charged that some vested interests were targetting temple treasures for quite some time with a materialistic mindset to make monetary benefits out of it.

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Those who failed many times in their attempt to get hold of the administration of the temple were now making moves with an eye on the temple treasures, the BJP leader further charged.

He also shared the concerns of devotees about the recent flying of a private helicopter above the shrine campus five times but no investigation was conducted by the authorities to find out their motive.

"In the circumstances, immediate measures should be taken to enhance the security of the shrine and protect its assets with utmost caution," Rajasekharan further said.

The leader sought to declare the Padmanabha Temple area a non-fly zone.

The matter of exhibition of treasures at the Padmanabha Temple came up for discussion in the state Assembly during the debate on the Sree Pandaravaka Lands (Vesting and Enfranchisement) Amendment Bill, 2022 on Wednesday.

The suggestion to exhibit the treasures was mooted in the House by Congress MLA A P Anil Kumar and was supported by CPI(M) legislator Kadakampally Surendran.

However, two Congress MLAs -- Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and P C Vishnunadh -- opposed the idea.

Kadakampally Surendran, who was the Minister for Cooperation, Tourism, and Devaswom in the previous Pinarayi Vijayan government, revealed during the discussion that a proposal was framed back then to put the treasures on exhibition with the best security system protecting them.

However, the Travancore Royal Family was opposed to the idea and therefore, the proposal was never implemented.

The project would have attracted tourists or devotees from across the world and would have generated revenue for the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple, considered to be one of the richest temples in the country, he had said.

He had also said that the House should convey to the royal family the government's views on exhibiting the treasure and request them to support the idea as it would be beneficial for the state.

The Travancore Royal Family on Thursday said the treasures in the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple were not showpieces and therefore, should never be taken out for public exhibition in any museum.

The sprawling Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, an architectural wonder in granite, was rebuilt in its present form in the 18th century by the Travancore Royal House which had ruled southern Kerala and some adjoining parts of Tamil Nadu before integration of the princely state with the Indian Union in 1947.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)