$11 billion treasure revealed beneath temple in India


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A court-ordered search of vaults beneath a temple in India has turned up a treasure worth at least $11 billion, according to reports from the Indian state of Kerala.

An inventory of what lies beneath the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, as reported on the website Business-Standard.com and others, reads like a prop list from an "Indiana Jones" movie:

* Rubies, sapphires, emeralds and pearls

* Replicas of coconut shells made of pure gold

* Hundreds of thousands of gold and silver coins, some dating to the 16th century

* Gold chains as long as 18 feet

* Solid-gold human figurines and idols

* Crowns and pendants

* Gold and silver bars

The wealth was amassed in at least six vaults, some of which had not been opened in 150 years, according to media reports. India's Supreme Court ordered an inventory of the vaults after hearing a private complaint seeking "more transparency and trustworthiness in the temple administration".

The former royal family of Travancore manages the temple.

The Kerala government said Monday the treasure will remain property of the shrine, according to media reports.

"The wealth belonged to the temple and it will be preserved where it was found. There is religious and historical significance to the findings. The state will ensure its security," Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told the Times of India.

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someone you know will have a attempt on that as 11billion is way to much to pass up assuming there is not a huge risk to get caught.

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Thats a lot of stuff, I would love to see this kind of treasure in real life. Reading the list of things found, sounds exactly like a movie .... I know these gems and things exist, but it would be amazing to be the one who found them! I could only imagine the looks on their faces when they went into the tombs and saw all the shinies!

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The value of the treasure is already at $22 billion and it's expected to go as high as $25 billion. It's a shame they can't take pictures of it. It'd be interesting to see what it looks like.

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^ I would guess pirate English, or maybe Dutch ships may have brought it to India.

And the depositers died without passing on the secret treasure.

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Good thing is you dont need any armies or IT guys to go in when they put booby traps there... just send in harisson ford with his hat, job done

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I wonder where it was stolen from and who stole it. That would be quite interesting to find out about.

It is said that the money was donated to the temple by the king of Travencore in the 18th century. The religious figurines found add credibility to the claim.

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dont you love it when someone "finds" something that people already knew was there :p

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I wonder where it was stolen from and who stole it. That would be quite interesting to find out about.

^ I would guess pirate English, or maybe Dutch ships may have brought it to India.

And the depositers died without passing on the secret treasure.

* facepalm *

It was not something stolen. It belonged to the Kings of Travancore state which later joined with the Cochin and Malabar to become Kerala when states were divided on the basis of language. I live in Kottayam which is part of Central Travancore.

Oh and the British didn't bring any treasure to India, what they did was they looted us and took treasures of various Princely States back to their country. Dutch was driven out of here by Marthanda Varma, King of Travancore.

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I wonder where it was stolen from and who stole it. That would be quite interesting to find out about.

^ I would guess pirate English, or maybe Dutch ships may have brought it to India.

And the depositers died without passing on the secret treasure.

It seems like it belongs to the royal family and they manage the temple. Maybe they kept it there to protect the wealth from being stolen by plunders.

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That's crazy to think about! In a rather odd coincidence it's very similar to the plotline of a book I read recently - I think it might even have been India in the book... though it was fictional. Still, hearing news like this makes you wonder how many more hidden secrets there are in the world.

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That much treasure would easily pay off a few countries debts and still have some left over!!!!

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Good thing is you dont need any armies or IT guys to go in when they put booby traps there... just send in harisson ford with his hat, job done

that be a mighty big bag of sand he'd need.

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LOL am from Kerala and have visited that temple once before. I'd always thought that there would be some valuables hidden in temples like these, but hadn't even imagined that it would have been worth this much.

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LOL am from Kerala and have visited that temple once before. I'd always thought that there would be some valuables hidden in temples like these, but hadn't even imagined that it would have been worth this much.

Hi, I think this is the first time I've seen another Malayalee here.

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Hi, I think this is the first time I've seen another Malayalee here.

I have been reading Neowin for quite sometime now..just wasn't active in the forums.

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