The Supreme Court on Monday upholds the assets rights of Travancore royal family in the administration of one of India's richest, Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple, at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. The top court has set aside the 2011 verdict of the Kerala High Court which had directed the state government to set up a trust to take control of management and assets of the historic Padmanabha Swamy Temple.
A bench headed by Justice UU Lalit said that as an interim measure, the District Judge of Thiruvananthapuram will head an administrative committee to manage the affairs of the temple.
A view of Kowdiar Palace in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The palace was built in 1934 by Maharajah Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, on Pallikettu of his only sister, Maharani Karthika Thirunal Lakshmi Bayi with Lt. Col. GV Raja.
The government welcomes the Supreme Court verdict in Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple case. It's the government's duty to implement and comply with its verdict, said Kerala Devaswom Board Minister Kadakampally Surendran.
The Supreme Court delivered the verdict on a batch of appeals, including the one filed by the legal representatives of the Travancore royal family, challenging the January 31, 2011 verdict of the high court in the matter.
Photograph taken about 1900 by the Government photographer, Zacharias D'Cruz of the Travancore Maharaja's State Carriage in Trivandrum. It was drawn by a team of six horses. In the background can be seen the gopuram of the Padmanabha Swamy temple.
The sprawling temple, an architectural splendour in granite, was rebuilt in its present form in the 18th century by the Travancore Royal House which had ruled southern Kerala and some adjoining parts of Tamil Nadu before integration of the princely state with the Indian Union in 1947.
(With inputs from PTI)
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