– $11 billion treasure revealed beneath temple in India (CNN, July 4, 2011):
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,” according to a report on the news website daijiworld.com.
The former royal family of Travancore manages the temple. For an explanation about how the treasure might have been amassed, check out this report from CommodityOnline.com.