The Most Richest Temple In The World

The Most Richest Temple In The World: People Rush To Donate Money For 5,000 Years, The Treasure Is Equivalent To The Gdp Of The Entire Province Of Guangdong

The Indian state of Kerala is home to a famous temple, The Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple, or Wami Temple for short. Dedicated to Lord Vishnu, the creator of the universe, the temple has fascinated Indians for many years. Over the centuries, kings and dynasties have donated countless amounts of gold and jewels to the temple for various reasons, sometimes because princes are coming of age. According to legend, these treasures still lie in secret vaults beneath the ancient temple.

But the true size of the temple is still unknown. Some scholars claim that the temple was built more than 5,000 years ago. Wami Temple was famous for its unimaginable wealth 2500 years ago. In some Hindu texts dated between 500 BC and 300 AD, the temple is mentioned as the "Golden Temple". Ancient Tamil texts also record their splendor.

These treasures were amassed over thousands of years through donations from different Indian dynasties, as well as rulers and merchants from Mesopotamia, Jerusalem, Greece, Rome, and beyond. In addition, when India was invaded by foreigners, many small temples transferred their wealth to the Wami Temple for preservation.

For a long time, the temple and its properties were managed by a royal family trust called Travancore. In 2011, the Supreme Court ordered the royal family to open up the temple's secret chambers to reveal hidden wealth. Of the six vaults at the temple, five have already been opened. Among the valuables are 800 kilograms of gold coins, a 5.5-meter-long pure gold chain, gold bars weighing 500 kilograms, more than 2,000 gold ornaments, a pure gold throne, precious stones embedded with hundreds of diamonds, and several gold statues. In addition, there are sacks filled with necklaces, pendants, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and other precious metal items. The wealth is estimated to be worth more than $20 billion, and if one counts its cultural value, its total value is at least $200 billion.

The opening process of the entire temple vault is like a plot in a movie. Its security measures are quite complex:

The gate requires multiple keys to be activated at the same time, and these keys are distributed to different people for safekeeping. Observers used the keys to unlock the door to the vault and found a solid wooden door. After opening the wooden door, they encountered a third door made of iron. So they stepped back and reopened the other two doors. Eventually, they entered a small room with a large rectangular slab of stone on the floor, resembling a fallen tombstone. It took five people more than thirty minutes to move the slab. Beneath the stone slabs they found a narrow black passage, so narrow that it was almost impossible for a grown man to pass. Before the staff entered the black passage, a group of firefighters arrived first and used special devices to inject oxygen into the passage to prevent staff from being poisoned by insufficient air or high concentrations of carbon in the passage.

One of the staff recalled seeing the treasure for the first time:

The black passage was almost dark as they pushed away the huge stone slabs. But, gradually, they saw glimmers of light on the other side of the tunnel, like stars twinkling in the night sky. Most of the treasure was supposed to be in the wooden box, but when they entered the vault, most of the treasure poured out of the wooden box, just like in the plot of the movie. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

According to rumors, the sixth unopened treasury is the largest and richest. There are even rumors that in addition to these six treasure houses, there is also a hidden room with thick walls made of pure gold that contains an immeasurable wealth. Only the sixth treasure trove is worth at least $1 trillion, according to estimates by the royal family, which manages assets. If the claim is true, it could be the largest and most undiscovered treasure ever discovered.

The question now is how to manage this wealth. The Indian government wants to melt down the gold and sell it to jewelers to meet the growing domestic demand for gold. That could cut India's annual gold imports by a quarter, according to government and industry sources. People in religious circles believe that gold belongs to the temple and should be kept in the temple and cannot be moved.

As India debates the ownership of wealth, the government has stepped up security measures at temples. To protect this vast treasure, the temple has installed a state-of-the-art security system including aerial surveillance systems, blast-proof walls, seismic sensors, luggage scanners, burglar alarms, and a visitor tracking system to keep the vault safe from tunnel thieves.