Eight antique diamonds adorning the forehead of an idol at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple were missing, the Supreme Court was told on Monday, the latest theft to be reported from one of the world’s richest Hindu shrines.
The crime branch of the Kerala Police were investigating the theft, senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, who is assisting the court in a case of alleged mismanagement of the shrine, said in his report about the Thiruvananthapuram-based temple whose wealth is estimated at Rs 1.5 lakh crore.
Though the diamonds, part of the Namam (tilakam), were officially valued at Rs 21 lakh, it was a conservative estimate as the value was “far beyond the figure” because of their antiquity, the report said.
Ten months ago gold worth Rs 189 crore was reported missing from the temple by former comptroller and auditor general of India Vinod Rai.
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