Temples in India hold a strong history and talking about Padmanabhaswamy Temple, in particular, there are lots of interesting things to know. Located in Thiruvananthapuram, in Kerala, Padmanabhaswamy Temple is the wealthiest temple in the world with over $20 billion worth of treasure.
The name Thiruvananthapuram literally means ‘the city of Lord Ananta’ is a sign of the temple’s deep link with the city. In fact, the temple is a mix of Keralite and Tamil temple architecture.
The foundation of the present gopuram of the temple was first laid in the year 1566 CE despite the fact that the temple history predates many centuries. Yes, the temple has approximately $20 Billion worth of gold and valuable stones kept in six onsite vaults and many South Indians know that one of the vaults is still unopened with so many secrets kept inside.
Even the state government had once decided to open the vault but later it denied it. The temple is well known for Maha Vishnu, the God who is believed to be one of the most powerful divinities of Hinduism.
Gold mine found in UP’s Sonbhadra district is 5 times that of India’s reserves
Case in point, the Uttar Pradesh government is planning to auction tonnes of gold reserve discovered in Sonbhadra district of the state. According to the reports of Geological Survey of India and Uttar Pradesh Directorate of Geology and Mining, the estimated gold is around 3,000 tonnes at Son Pahadi and Hardi village area.
The UP government has already started the process for allocation of blocks where gold is said to be found. It has been said that a large reserve of gold has been confirmed in Hardi village in Kone region and Son Pahadi in Mahuli region.
Meanwhile, the state government had also constituted a seven-member team for auctioning of these precious blocks through the e-tendering process. The seven-member team will be geo-tagging the whole region and will submit its report to the Directorate of Geology and Mining, Lucknow by February 22.
According to the official letter of the Uttar Pradesh Directorate of Geology and Mining, 2,943.26 tonnes of gold reserve is known to be at Son Pahadi while 646.15 kilograms of gold is said to be at Hardi block. According to the World Gold Council, India currently has 626 tonnes of gold reserves. The new reserves are five times the total amount and estimated at Rs 12 lakh crore.
It should be noted that the work for finding gold reserves in Sonbhadra started in 1992-93 after the Central Geological Survey of India took over. As per the reports, it was the British who first initiated the process to find a gold reserve in Sobhadra region.
While speaking to the media, Dr Prithivi Mishra, who has earlier worked for the Geological Survey of India in this matter and retired in the year 2011 said the gold reserve in the region is divided into two parts. Mishra also disclosed the information at the time of his retirement and claimed that there was a huge rock made of gold which is almost one kilometre long, 18 metres high and 15 metres broad.