Travancore Royals

As the Left government in Kerala gears up to inaugurate a cultural centre at Travancore House, in the heart of the national capital, on August 4, the Travancore Royal family has moved the central government.

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the rights of the former royal family in running the administration of the Kerala's Padmanabhaswamy Temple, setting aside the 2011 verdict of the Kerala High Court that directed the state government to take control of the historic temple in state capital Thiruvananthapuram.

The magnificent 16th century Padmanabhapuram palace, an erstwhile seat of the Travancore royals, is now just a click away, thanks to a new website on the heritage structure launched by the Kerala government.

The Travancore royal family today came out against an audit report by former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai over alleged theft of gold valuables from the Sree Padmanabha Swamy shrine here, saying it was never consulted in its preparation.

The erstwhile royal family of Travancore - which earlier managed Thiruvananthapuram's famed Padmanabhaswamy temple -- has told NDTV that the committee appointed to audit the temple wealth had never contacted them.

The public road transport service in Kerala, which has been playing a major role in ferrying commoners in and across the state for several decades, turned 77 today.

The Supreme Court hearing of the maintenance and opening of secret vaults of Kerala's Padmanabhaswamy temple turned into a slanging match today between Amicus Curiae Gopal Subramanium and the erstwhile Travancore royals' lawyer KK Venugopal. The judges had to step in to calm down the two senior lawyers.

Huge amounts of gold and silver donated by devotees at the famous temple Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala have not been reported by the trustees, a report to the Supreme Court says. Describing this and other parts of the report as "disturbing", the Supreme Court has said it will intervene soon with an order on "an extremely serious matter."

As the Supreme Court-appointed expert committee sought the court's direction on opening Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple's vault, the apex court said it would examine the request. The bench of Justice RM Lodha and Justice AK Patnaik, while posting the matter for hearing on April 18, asked the Expert Committee to supply copies of its fourth report to othe...

The experts' committee constituted by the Supreme Court for inventorying and scientifically documenting the priceless treasures found in the vaults of the famed Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram commenced its work today.

The Travancore Royal family had recently told the Supreme Court that opening the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple's secret vaults and photographing the treasure would invite the deity's anger. But now NDTV has accessed documents that show the Royal family had authorised the opening of the secret vaults at the temple in 2007 and even the contents of the...

The Supreme Court today advised the Travancore Royal family not to rely on the ritual astrological prediction - Devaprasnam - while deciding on the opening of the secret vault of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy took exception to CPI (M) leader VS Achuthanandan's recent remarks against the head of the Travancore royal family Uthradam Thirunal Marthanda Varma. Achuthanandan had alleged that the royal family had been siphoning wealth from the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.

The controversy over the priceless treasure in Kerala's Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple refuses to die down. Veteran Marxist leader and former Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan has said that he will approach the Supreme Court against the custodians of the temple-- the Travancore Royal Family, for allegedly smuggling its wealth. The Marxist leade...

The head of the Travancore royal family renounced on Friday any personal claim to billions of dollars' worth of ancient treasure discovered in a temple in the kingdom his ancestors once ruled."The royal family is not claiming anything. No part belongs to the family," said KK Venugopal, a lawyer representing the descendants of the erstwhile rulers o...

As the Left government in Kerala gears up to inaugurate a cultural centre at Travancore House, in the heart of the national capital, on August 4, the Travancore Royal family has moved the central government.

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the rights of the former royal family in running the administration of the Kerala's Padmanabhaswamy Temple, setting aside the 2011 verdict of the Kerala High Court that directed the state government to take control of the historic temple in state capital Thiruvananthapuram.

The magnificent 16th century Padmanabhapuram palace, an erstwhile seat of the Travancore royals, is now just a click away, thanks to a new website on the heritage structure launched by the Kerala government.

The Travancore royal family today came out against an audit report by former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai over alleged theft of gold valuables from the Sree Padmanabha Swamy shrine here, saying it was never consulted in its preparation.

The erstwhile royal family of Travancore - which earlier managed Thiruvananthapuram's famed Padmanabhaswamy temple -- has told NDTV that the committee appointed to audit the temple wealth had never contacted them.

The public road transport service in Kerala, which has been playing a major role in ferrying commoners in and across the state for several decades, turned 77 today.

The Supreme Court hearing of the maintenance and opening of secret vaults of Kerala's Padmanabhaswamy temple turned into a slanging match today between Amicus Curiae Gopal Subramanium and the erstwhile Travancore royals' lawyer KK Venugopal. The judges had to step in to calm down the two senior lawyers.

Huge amounts of gold and silver donated by devotees at the famous temple Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala have not been reported by the trustees, a report to the Supreme Court says. Describing this and other parts of the report as "disturbing", the Supreme Court has said it will intervene soon with an order on "an extremely serious matter."

As the Supreme Court-appointed expert committee sought the court's direction on opening Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple's vault, the apex court said it would examine the request. The bench of Justice RM Lodha and Justice AK Patnaik, while posting the matter for hearing on April 18, asked the Expert Committee to supply copies of its fourth report to othe...

The experts' committee constituted by the Supreme Court for inventorying and scientifically documenting the priceless treasures found in the vaults of the famed Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram commenced its work today.

The Travancore Royal family had recently told the Supreme Court that opening the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple's secret vaults and photographing the treasure would invite the deity's anger. But now NDTV has accessed documents that show the Royal family had authorised the opening of the secret vaults at the temple in 2007 and even the contents of the...

The Supreme Court today advised the Travancore Royal family not to rely on the ritual astrological prediction - Devaprasnam - while deciding on the opening of the secret vault of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy took exception to CPI (M) leader VS Achuthanandan's recent remarks against the head of the Travancore royal family Uthradam Thirunal Marthanda Varma. Achuthanandan had alleged that the royal family had been siphoning wealth from the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.

The controversy over the priceless treasure in Kerala's Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple refuses to die down. Veteran Marxist leader and former Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan has said that he will approach the Supreme Court against the custodians of the temple-- the Travancore Royal Family, for allegedly smuggling its wealth. The Marxist leade...

The head of the Travancore royal family renounced on Friday any personal claim to billions of dollars' worth of ancient treasure discovered in a temple in the kingdom his ancestors once ruled."The royal family is not claiming anything. No part belongs to the family," said KK Venugopal, a lawyer representing the descendants of the erstwhile rulers o...