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Travancore royal family regains temple's ownership

KT SCIENCE FEATURES. Dated: 7/14/2020 10:35:23 AM

NEW DELHI, July 13: The Travancore royal family on Monday regained ownership of the historic Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, as the Supreme Court quashed the Kerala High Court's January 31, 2011 verdict asking the state government to take over and run it, declaring the family's "Shebayatship" (right to manage deity's properties) oer the temple.
A Bench of Justices Uday Umesh Lalit and Indu Malhotraallowed the family's appeal and held that the Instrument of Accession signed by the princely state's ruler with the Government at the time of Independence will not end with his death. It said the district judge, appointed by it as the executive officer, will continue to be the administrator of the temple until the royal family sets up own trust to run the show.
The Court had on May 2, 2011 stayed the High Court's order for the state government to take over the temple's assets and its management. It had reserved its judgment on April 10 last year. The sprawling temple was built in the 18th century by the Travancore Royal House that had ruled southern Kerala and some adjoining parts of Tamil Nadu before the princely sate was merged into the Indian Union in 1947, Even after Independence, the temple had continued to be governed by a trust controlled by the erstwhile royal family, for whom Lord Padmanabha (Vishnu) is its family deity.