A Brief History of Lord Padmanabhaswamy's Wealth- Part 1

 A BRIEF HISTORY OF LORD PADMANABHASWAMY’S WEALTH- PART 1

PROLOGUE

1) Recently, the Supreme Court of India held that, after the death of the erstwhile ruler of the Travancore State, his most eligible descendant will continue to remain the Shebait of Lord Padmanabhaswamy. The death of the erstwhile ruler deposited his “Instrument of Accession” with the Union of India, on the condition that he will remain the custodian of Lord Padmanabhaswamy’s properties, and the properties will accrue to the Legal Heirs even after the ruler’s death. But, I felt that the Supreme Court of India had not decided the most important issue which was presented before it for adjudication, viz., whether, notwithstanding the beliefs of the custodian and his spiritual advisors, the Temple can proceed with recording the inventory of the articles which are stored in the “Stone Room” (kallarai), as ordered by the Kerala High Court. This question should be considered bearing in mind the following:

a) Considering that the kallarai may have pearls, rubies, precious and semi-precious stones, and valuable metals capable of deterioration due to the process of oxidization, should we not think of a method where the value of the treasure does not diminish due to physical factors, such as prolonged non-exposure to light, high-levels of humidity, interference by living beings.

b) It was reported during the earlier visit to one such strong rooms that the visitors noticed the wooden boxes in which pearls were stored, had become brittle and broken, thereby exposing the treasure to a lot of moisture.

c) Most importantly, would the death of the original Petitioner, Mr. Sundararajan, mean that now the matter would be settled between the Royal Family and the State Government?

d) Will the Legal Heirs of Mr. Sundararajan have any say when the issue of opening of vaults for carrying out the inventory is taken up by the Court-appointed Committee or will the traditional principle of Tort Law “cause of action dies with the human” apply to the present case, more so, considering he was a bachelor who almost led an ascetic life?

2) Declaration of Possible Personal Prejudices, If Any

a) Today, as a 63-year old, I have evolved from being a staunch believer to an atheist/non-believer. But I will be respectful to all religions, as each one of them has something worth admiring. This transformation took place when I visited the Angkor Wat Temple in Cambodia. I was born in an Orthodox Iyengar family and lived in an "agraharam" (Brahmin locality) for the first 19 years of my life. I have visited the Lord Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Lord Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala (after complying with the essential minimum formalities, for around 40 days). But today, I have taken a conscious decision to remove the sacred thread and also declared to my children that I do not believe in the concept of Brahminism, Varnashrama/Sanatana Dharma. I will continue to enjoy Temple, Church, Mosque visits if permitted. Living in Puducherry for 4 years made me believe that the concept of equality, which the Supreme Court of India has rightly declared to be a part of the “Basic Structure of the Constitution of India” is in the nature of “grund norm” or “jus cogens”  from which no derogation should be permitted. I support the decision of the Kerala and Tamil Nadu Governments to appoint non-Brahminical priests, who are qualified in Agama Shastras, and those who genuinely believe in the spiritual history of the temple concerned.

3) Historical Trivia Surrounding the Lord Padmanabhaswamy Temple

a) When we consider present-day legal issues with antique ramifications, as Lawyers, we must bear in mind a principle of classical International Law called “Inter-temporal Law”. This doctrine stipulates that when a present-day legal dispute has a history of several centuries, the rights and obligations of the parties have to be looked at through the prism of the changing legal systems over the centuries. Unfortunately, most of the discussions on the issue of remedying the wrongs of past injustices are blissfully unaware of this doctrine of International Law, dating back to just  4-5 centuries. The earliest recorded literary and historical evidence suggests that the Lord Padmanabhaswamy Temple has been in existence for the last 1000 years at least. However, the temple website simply says that it is very old and has remained a temple since time immemorial and does not give any time frame. Historically, before the advent of the Common Era, Trivandrum was Thiruvananthapuram. It must have been a part of the Tamil Kingdom, more particularly, the Chera Kingdom. But those believing in the existence of Lemurian Subcontinent will advocate that the Pandya Kings also exercised substantial dominance over the southern-most part of the present-day Indian subcontinent. The Chera, Chola and Pandya Kings were not averse to matrimonial and family relations inter se, though, periodically, they resorted to internecine wars.  At the advent of the Common Era, contemporaneous with the birth of Jesus Christ, there were very few Christians and Muslims in southern India then.  Before the advent of the Hindu religion, as we understand it today. there were 3 dominant religions, viz.,

i) Jainism,

ii) Aasivagam,

iii) Buddhism,

iv) Worshipping of Native or People’s God, namely, Murugan, Kottravai,  Mayon and possibly  Rudra (  Shiva).

b) People in Kerala firmly believe that St. Thomas, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ, converted some leading Namboodiri families to Christianity, two thousand years ago. Islam also came to India during the time of Prophet Muhammad. There are many people in the Ramnad District and the state of Kerala, who believe that one of the Chera/Pandya Kings, who visited the Middle-East during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad, was responsible for bringing Islam to the country, before it was brought to India on a much larger scale by the Arab traders, who came to India about 1200 years ago. But, unfortunately, most in our country identify Islam with the barbaric Islamic rulers of Afghani and Mongol descent.

c) The scholars of the South Indian history concede that very little archaeological, literary and other historical evidence is available relating to the period between the 1^st and 5^th century CE. Tamil history refers to this period as the Kalathirarkaalam. It is also referred to as the dark period in Tamil history because the Kalathirars hailing from the present-day northern Karnataka and Andhra, swarmed into the lower southern regions and established their own kingdoms after defeating the Chola, Chera, and Pandya kingdoms. Most of them were not Hindu kings. During this time, the most dominant religions in present-day South India were Jainism and Buddhism. It was soon after this period that one witnessed a renaissance of Hindu Culture through the Pallava, the modern Chera, the Chola, and the Pandya kings. The modern-day Tamil kingdoms were predominantly either Shaivites or Vaishnavites. Islam and Christianity had not yet arrived in a big way, in this part of South India. There had been a lot of persecution of Jains and Buddhists, mostly by the Shaivite kings. In fact, Mr. Thol Thirumavalavan, the current Member of Parliament from the Chidambaram Constituency, came up with a press statement that the most famous Vaishnavite shrines such as Tirupati, Chidambaram, and Srirangam, were originally Jain temples, before the Aryans brought along different incarnations of Lord Vishnu with them during their cultural invasion. In terms of appearance, Lord Padmanabha bears a striking resemblance to the deities of these 3 shrines. So, it is quite possible that Lord Padmanabha is an Aryan import, into South India. Since I am neither a Historian nor an Archeologist, I dare not give an opinion on this sensitive and emotional issue.

d) Between the 11^th and the 16^th century, Travancore was ruled by the descendants of the Chera kings, who traced their origin to a kingdom in an area presently situated in the Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu. In this district, there is an equally famous temple in Suchindram, which is also a unique temple, as there exists Trimurthi worship. One does see any temples for Brahma in South India. During these times, the management of Lord Padmanabhaswamy Temple was shared between the Ettu veetil pillaimar and the king. In fact, these families managed the affairs of the Lord Padmanabhaswamy Temple under the overall superintendence of the King of Travancore. In many ways, the Kingdom of Travancore was unique. When the rest of the world and India practised patrilineal primogeniture for the succession of kingdoms, the Travancore Kingdom adopted matrilineal primogeniture (marumakkadaayam). However, the Travancore Kings later became the vassal states of the British Empire. In fact, all the riches we have today in the Padmanabhaswamy Temple was accumulated between the 10^th and 17^th centuries. Most of the present treasure that was unearthed was accumulated by King Marthandavarma and his successors. There are several positive things about this royal lineage. The kings, were, in comparison to the rest of the world, more benevolent and provided a relatively prosperous and benign rule. The position of women in society was relatively better in comparison to the rest of India.

e) When we consider the very long history of this temple, we should not be oblivious to an important event in South Indian history, viz., the destruction of Kanthalur Salai. This was a naval war that took place in 985-988 CE. There is historical evidence to show that the great Chola King Rajarajan raided present-day Thiruvananthapuram and destroyed the backbone of the then Kingdom, viz., the Kanthalur Salai, a university that was supported by the Royalty and manned by different types of Brahmins, who were good at warfare as well. So, even if there was wealth, then, in the temple, it was quite likely that it was carted away to finance the Chola King’s expansionism plans in Indo-China or for the construction of Hindu temples in their kingdom. The Grand Tanjore temple was built during this time. 

f) The life of King Marthandaverma and his illustrious lineage

Marthandavarma is generally considered to be the founder of the modern Travancore Royal Dynasty and the founder of the Padmanabhadasa Cult. He apparently had some difference of opinion with the Ettu veetil pillaimar, who planned to throw the king out in a palace coup. King Varma came to know of it earlier and ruthlessly eliminated the members of the Ettu veetil pillaimar and brought the entire temple administration under his control. During his tenure, he modernized his Army and Navy and brought entire modern-day Kerala under his regime. In fact, the Travancore King even defeated the invading Dutch forces at the famous battle of Colachal. King Marthandavarma was followed by several rulers who were, by and large benevolent, scholarly, and above all humble and without any ostentatious or ugly display of wealth and status, which was normal with the ruling aristocracy, then. It is with a lot of pride that many Indians, today record that it is the state of Travancore that, for the first time in the world abolished capital punishment for all, in 1944. Earlier, only Brahmins enjoyed this privilege, i.e protection against capital punishment, until Warren Hastings hanged Rajah Nandakumar, after an infamous trial. Even the European nations abolished capital punishment only 25 years after Travancore did. Travancore, at the time, was a truly cosmopolitan society with all its conservatism. The state of Travancore had amongst its citizenry, Tamilians, Gujaratis, Tulu-speakers, Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Swethambar Jains from North India. Even priestly functions across Kerala were performed by diverse Brahmanical sects. For example, the Chief Tantri of the temple is a Namboodiri Brahmin. Yet, many ancillary duties and at times, even priestly jobs in the Padmanabhaswamy Temple was performed by Vaishnavite Brahmins from Tamil Nadu. But in the Lord Ayyappa Temple, Sabarimala, which must at least be about 900 years old, priestly functions are performed by the Namboodiri Brahmins, some of whom believed in the Tantrik form of worship. Most of the temples in Kerala have Tulu-speaking Brahminical class to perform spiritual duties. In the state of Travancore, there were Synagogues, Mosques, Churches, and ancient inhabitants (tribes) with animistic faiths. In short, it was a culturally sophisticated, diverse, tolerant, and progressive society, in comparison to the rest of India. However, it has been recorded that during the 18^th and 19^th centuries, some women were prohibited from wearing blouses and the State even imposed a tax on lower-class women (mulaivari/breast tax) for them to wear a blouse. The same also applied to men. They were prohibited from wearing any fabric over the top part of the body. This to me is the only black mark over this illustrious lineage from the perspective of the modern norm of equality.