Temples: History, Architecture & Distribution - 2

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[url="http://www.telegraphindia.com//1100708/jsp/nation/story_12659218.jsp"]Jewellery ‘missing’ from Tirupati[/url]

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Hyderabad, July 7: The Tirumala temple has got sucked into another controversy with a top official claiming jewellery donated by 16th century Vijayanagar king Krishnadevaraya is missing or not accounted for.



The revelation by I.Y.R. Krishna Rao, the executive officer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), could ignite one of the worst scandals at the shrine, the richest in India whose assets are comparable only to the Vatican. Rao did not put a value on the Krishnadevaraya-donated jewellery as these were antique items.



Ironically, the disclosure comes three days after an Andhra government programme to mark 5 00 years of the coronation of Krishnadevaraya. President Pratibha Patil inaugurated the event in Hyderabad.



Two years ago, a priest of another TTD temple was accused of stealing the deity’s jewellery, prompting a wider probe headed by a judge, J.D. Wadha, who looked into the records and concluded that all was in order.



Rao did not describe the latest case as a theft. It is possible, he admitted, that some of the ornaments given by Krishnadevaraya had been converted into other daily-use jewellery for Lord Balaji, the presiding deity.



In 1933, when the temple was administered by private mahants (custodians) unlike the present arrangement where it is run by a board, some of Krishnadevaraya’s ornaments were melted and converted into daily-use jewellery, such as necklaces and bangles, adorning the Lord.



Some antique ornaments were also converted the same way in 1955.



The ornaments donated by Krishnadevaraya — who visited the Tirumala temple at least seven times between 1509 and 1530 — include a Navaratna sword, necklace, golden and diamond-studded shoulder plates.



The jewellery worn by the deity is worth Rs 50 crore. The total temple gold, including antique items, is put at 11.5 tonnes. At current prices of Rs 20,000 per 10 grams, the value of the ornaments is around Rs 75,000 crore.



But the latest scandal could cause greater damage to the TTD’s credibility as it has come barely two years after attempts to throw open the temple’s jewellery for public display were stonewalled by priests for security reasons.



The disclosure also comes after a top TTD official, referred to as Dollar Sheshadri because of allegations he was involved in irregularities in the upkeep of gold medals, was removed on court orders two months back.



In 2008, Andhra Pradesh High Court had ordered the temple prepare documents detailing the jewellery but, as the present case shows, the directive has hardly been enforced. Little seems to have also come of the state government’s move to set up a panel headed by a retired judge to suggest ways to account for and maintain antique jewellery.



The incident has already taken on a political colour. Praja Rajyam chief Chiranjeevi, the local MLA from Tirupati, said “it is shocking such a thing should happen during my term”. Telugu Desam Party president Chandrababu Naidu said the missing ornaments showed the poor state of affairs in the TTD. Most of the representatives on the TTD board are from the government.