After 25 sittings, the Supreme Court had reserved its verdict on April 10, 2019 (File)
A secret vault in Kerala's Padmanabhaswamy Temple - said to be one of the richest places of worship in the world - will be opened or not, the Supreme Court is expected to decide on Monday. While the other chambers inside the Thiruvananthapuram temple had been opened and inventories made by a court-appointed team, a vault called Kallara in Malayalam has been shut for years.
The former royal family of Travancore, which used to head a trust that managed the temple, argues that opening the vault will bring misfortune because of a mythical curse.
However, senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, who was assisting the court as Amicus Curiae, had said that the vault had been opened on a number of occasions in the past.
The Supreme Court will also decide on the right of the Travancore family on the temple property and the creation of a Devaswom board to manage its affairs.
The Kerala High Court had ordered the creation of the board to maintain the temple. The family had challenged the order in 2011 in the Supreme Court.
After 25 sittings, the Supreme Court had reserved its verdict on April 10, 2019.
The temple is currently managed by a committee headed by the district judge, as ordered by the Supreme Court. An executive officer is managing the affairs of the temple.
According to reports, the royal family is not opposed to the creation of the board but wants a bigger role in it.
The security of all the secret vaults had been enhanced as per orders of the Supreme Court.