Ex-royals oppose opening Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple's Vault B

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The erstwhile Travancore royal family has objected to the opening of Vault B, the only underground chamber of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple that has not been examined officially. The family, like before, has invoked the wrath of the gods. “We are deeply dissatisfied by the suggestion. The royal family will not in any way be responsible if the opening of the vault triggers any consequences,” Aswathi Thirunal Gouri Lakshmi Bayi said. The family’s latest stand comes in the wake of the recent Supreme Court direction to the amicus curiae, Gopal Subramaniam, to consult the erstwhile royal family about opening Vault B.

However, noted Travan-core historian M.G. Sashibhooshan scoffed at the suggestion of divine retribution. “I know many people who have entered the B Vault,” he said. A book brought out by Oxford University Press in 1933, Guide to Travancore, too speaks about the opening of the B chamber, he said. “Moreover, a person of the stature of Mr Vinod Rai has, after meticulous research, found that the chamber was opened seven times between 1982 and 2002,” Mr Sasibhooshan said. But Gouri Lakshmi Bai argued that it was a fallacy fanned by ignorance. “They keep repeating that Vault B had been opened. Fact is, whoever had entered had entered only the antechamber and not the actual chamber,” she said.

Sasibhooshan is deeply suspicious. “Vinod Rai is not the kind of person who does not know the difference between an antechamber and the main chamber,” he said and added that the erstwhile royal family had the obligation to lift the mystery surrounding the chamber. “It is not enough to say that the gods will be angry or that the tantri community is against it. The family will have to come out with a convincing reply. Or else it will only deepen the misunderstanding about the family,” he said.