Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 5: The famous Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple and its massive treasure trove are back in the news. Following a meeting of the Supreme Court appointed an expert committee on the temple treasure, it was decided that the evaluation of the riches of Vault A will be started today (Jul 5). The evaluation is, however, expected to take more than 6 months. But local channels are quoting sources as saying that the value of the treasure in Vault A alone is expected to be close to Rs 10 lakh crore.

The sealed A vault is expected to be opened by the evaluating committee at 9 am on Thursday. They will have to open 2 sealed wooden doors as well as a metal door to get into the underground vaults. Provision for the supply of air to the air tight vaults has also been made during the evaluation process.

According to an official associated with taking stock of the treasure trove, “This vault contains artifacts such as ‘sarappoli mala’, coins, crowns and other jewellery. It cannot be inventoried at the same speed that the others were.” He has also been quoted as saying earlier, “We have to take the articles out of the underground chamber and take them to the workstations. The security measures for this process will be devised over the next couple of days.”

The evaluation of Vault C and D has almost been completed and it in this scenario that they have decided to open Vault A. A brief evaluation earlier had found that precious gold coins, gem-studded jewellery, diamonds and ornaments for the deity was also stored in iron trunks and sacks. [Read: Top 5 Richest Temples In India]

The valuation is being carried out under extreme security with all the proceedings being videographed and later saved in an ISRO server. To aid the valuation effort, specially ordered equipment from Germany has been brought to assess the diamonds, gems and other precious items.

Following the valuation, the items will be saved in large iron trunks. The Chief Engineer will also look into ways to strengthen the vaults.

It was in Jun last year that Vault A was opened after news spread of the massive riches in underground vaults of the famed Padmanabhaswamy temple in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Stunned by the riches, they had found a gold uruli (a large vessel) weighing 27.5 kg; around 360 pots made of gold used for temple rituals; an 18-ft Sarappoli golden chain, with 12 layers weighing 10.5 kg, studded with rare rubies and emeralds.