Tyr-Ziu Saxnot
07-19-2012, 07:32 PM
http://world.time.com/2011/07/06/an-indian-temples-hidden-22-billion-treasure-hoard-may-wake-political-dragons/
Billion Treasure Hoard May Wake Political Dragons
By Ishaan Tharoor | @ishaantharoor | July 6, 2011 | 33inShare.1
Indian police commandos patrol the premises of the 16th-century Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum, India, Tuesday, July 5, 2011. A fierce debate brewed Tuesday about what to do with billions of dollars worth of treasures in the Hindu temple in southern India, even as the trove of newly revealed riches was growing. Inside the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, investigators were counting the staggering hoard of gold coins and statues of gods and goddesses studded with diamonds and other precious stones. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)Renowned as sites of great spirituality and stunning architecture, India’s myriad ancient temples draw tens of millions of devotees and tourists each year. But it’s been a long time since any of its many hallowed shrines were in the news for possessing something altogether more mundane: a vast golden treasure, worth approximately $22 billion, according to government officials.
An inspection last week sanctioned by India’s Supreme Court into the vaults of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in the southern Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram revealed the complex held in its coffers a mind-boggling fortune in thousands of centuries-old gold coins, ropes of gold, precious diamonds, gems and beautiful jewel-encrusted artifacts. So far, five of six vaults have been inspected — some allegedly for the first time in over a century — and a full-fledged appraisal of the treasures held within has yet to take place. The $22 billion sum may be an exaggeration; equivalent to the announced “one lakh crore” rupees (the unit of a lakh in India signifies 100,000, a crore is 10 million), the figure smacks of hyperbole.
Yet, in a country that’s still hobbled by such great poverty as India, there’s something utterly startling about the treasure’s discovery, which appears far larger than the known endowments of even India’s most lavishly funded temple sites. According to the Christian Science Monitor, the reported $22 billion figure is double India’s 2011-2012 education budget. The vaults were opened for inspection after a local activist filed a case that reached the Supreme Court alleging the temple’s authorities were not properly tending to the site’s security. And now some in the traditionally leftist state of Kerala where the temple is located are calling for the hoard to be handed over to the government in order to be dispensed in the public interest.
Read more: http://world.time.com/2011/07/06/an-indian-temples-hidden-22-billion-treasure-hoard-may-wake-political-dragons/#ixzz217NNnyQ0
Take that 22 billion and add a few more billion, build water desalination plants to pump safe drinking water inland to tens of millions suffering from no water or unsafe drinking water! That would be a win win. Its not like the hindu's are going to go all jihadi for the treasure being confiscated for the dire need of the public. They arent insane muslim fanatics after all!
Imagine hoarded gold and gems since the early 1500's!!-Tyr
Billion Treasure Hoard May Wake Political Dragons
By Ishaan Tharoor | @ishaantharoor | July 6, 2011 | 33inShare.1
Indian police commandos patrol the premises of the 16th-century Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum, India, Tuesday, July 5, 2011. A fierce debate brewed Tuesday about what to do with billions of dollars worth of treasures in the Hindu temple in southern India, even as the trove of newly revealed riches was growing. Inside the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, investigators were counting the staggering hoard of gold coins and statues of gods and goddesses studded with diamonds and other precious stones. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)Renowned as sites of great spirituality and stunning architecture, India’s myriad ancient temples draw tens of millions of devotees and tourists each year. But it’s been a long time since any of its many hallowed shrines were in the news for possessing something altogether more mundane: a vast golden treasure, worth approximately $22 billion, according to government officials.
An inspection last week sanctioned by India’s Supreme Court into the vaults of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in the southern Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram revealed the complex held in its coffers a mind-boggling fortune in thousands of centuries-old gold coins, ropes of gold, precious diamonds, gems and beautiful jewel-encrusted artifacts. So far, five of six vaults have been inspected — some allegedly for the first time in over a century — and a full-fledged appraisal of the treasures held within has yet to take place. The $22 billion sum may be an exaggeration; equivalent to the announced “one lakh crore” rupees (the unit of a lakh in India signifies 100,000, a crore is 10 million), the figure smacks of hyperbole.
Yet, in a country that’s still hobbled by such great poverty as India, there’s something utterly startling about the treasure’s discovery, which appears far larger than the known endowments of even India’s most lavishly funded temple sites. According to the Christian Science Monitor, the reported $22 billion figure is double India’s 2011-2012 education budget. The vaults were opened for inspection after a local activist filed a case that reached the Supreme Court alleging the temple’s authorities were not properly tending to the site’s security. And now some in the traditionally leftist state of Kerala where the temple is located are calling for the hoard to be handed over to the government in order to be dispensed in the public interest.
Read more: http://world.time.com/2011/07/06/an-indian-temples-hidden-22-billion-treasure-hoard-may-wake-political-dragons/#ixzz217NNnyQ0
Take that 22 billion and add a few more billion, build water desalination plants to pump safe drinking water inland to tens of millions suffering from no water or unsafe drinking water! That would be a win win. Its not like the hindu's are going to go all jihadi for the treasure being confiscated for the dire need of the public. They arent insane muslim fanatics after all!
Imagine hoarded gold and gems since the early 1500's!!-Tyr