Thiruvananthapuram: The Supreme Court appointed
Committee on scientific documentation of treasures locked up
in the vaults of famed Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple here will
be following standards set up by the International Council of
Museum in carrying out the task entrusted to it.
"We want to carry out the mandate entrusted to us in a
thorough and foolproof manner applying the latest technology
and protocol. We have before us the standard procedures
followed by the International Council of Museums. But we will
strive to improve on them," panel co-ordinator and eminent
conservationist Dr M V Nair said.
The Supreme Court had yesterday agreed to Kerala`s request
for appointment of Nair as co-ordinator of the expert
committee to evaluate the wealth in place of former
bureaucrat C V Anand Bose, who recently retired from service.
Nair said the panel`s job included categorisation of the
invaluable objects found in `kallaras` (vaults) of the
sprawling temple into three--- those required for daily poojas
and rituals of the temple, those which were not required for
daily use and those which could be exhibited in a museum.
After inventorying and examining the priceless treasures,
the panel would make suggestions whether some of the objects
could be exhibited in a museum and, if so, whether within the
temple premises or outside, he said.
While making the assessment and drawing up the report the
panel would factor in the academic potential of the wealth
for future research and studies on topics linked to history,
culture and heritage, Nair said.
The state electronic devices manufacturer Keltron had been
asked to provide the equipment required for the job.
"We have asked them to ensure the precision and quality of
the equipment so that the job could be carried out in an
error-
free manner adhering to international standards, preferably
better than them", Nair said.
He said the committee proposed to start the job at the
earliest after a joint meeting with the overseeing committee
headed by former Kerala High Court judge M N Krishnan.
The committee headed by Krishnan had opened and inventoried
five of the six vaults last year as ordered by the apex
court.
Though the panel had conducted the job in a confidential
manner and not made any public statement on the value of the
treasure, their money valued has been widely speculated to
exceed Rs one lakh crore.
PTI
