NEW DELHI: Rama Varma, of the Travancore Royal Family, has moved the apex court urging it not to direct the opening of the Vault ‘B’ of the Sri Padmanabha Swamy Temple in Kerala.The applicant further submitted that photography and videography of the valuables will only expose the security of the highly precious jewels and may create more security concerns if the videographs land in the wrong hands.Moreover, both of them are very expensive and therefore, to restrict the mounting cost, videography should be dropped, the applicant contended. He also contended that the evaluation of the valuables is not necessary because it is not going to provide any contribution to the security or preservation. Even as per conservative estimates, it would take a minimum of one year to estimate the value of the jewellery.“Opening the Vault B is not at all advisable because it is specifically objected to by a considerable number of devotees. If more items require conservation, it will only increase the cost that has to be borne either by the state government or the temple. On the contrary, since there is no urgency in opening the vault, the move could be abandoned, Ramavarma said.Finally, the temple has no liquid funds to support the exercise, he said.In conclusion, the applicant averred that opening of Vault B and the videography will only invite resentment from the devotees even if it is suggested that the apprehensions are based on superstition.The Constitution of India respects religious sentiments, he said and quoted Articles 25 and 26 in support of his contentions.
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