By IANS,
New Delhi : The Supreme Court Thursday set up an experts committee to conduct an inventory of the treasure found from Kallara (vault) A of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala.
An apex court bench of Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice A.K. Patnaik said the committee of five experts will videograph and photograph the articles found in Kallara A.
Diamonds, rubies, gold jewellery and other valuables worth an estimated Rs.1 lakh crore have been found in chambers of the temple by a Supreme Court-appointed team. Five of the six chambers of the temple have been opened so far.
The experts committee will categorise all the articles broadly under three heads – ornaments of historical, artistic and antique value, those which are of regular use, and those which are of monetary value only.
It will suggest steps for long-term preservation and security of the treasure and also the feasibility of setting up a high-security museum within the temple complex, the court said.
The committee will also examine the necessity of opening Kallara B, which remains closed, at all.
The committee will be headed by Director General of National Museum C.V. Ananda Bose.
The court has appointed another three-member committee, to be headed by Justice M.N. Krishnan, to oversee the operations of the experts committee.
The experts committee will report to the apex court only.
The court also restrained the media from speculating on the value of the temple’s treasure.