Thiruvananthapuram, July 11 (Inditop.com) Employees of the famed Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in the Kerala capital have alleged corruption in the running of the temple and demanded the state government appoint a committee to run its affairs.
The employees union Saturday alleged that very little of the over Rs.10 crore of the temples’s yearly earnings is ploughed back into the temple, located in the heart of the capital.
Cheriyanoor P. Sasidharan Nair, the patron of the employees union, told reporters that a court in December 2007 had directed the Kerala government to appoint a committee to run the temple affairs, which is presently run by the erstwhile royal family of Travancore here.
“The Sree Padmanabhasawmy Temple Trust (SPTT) is the body that runs the temple. But there are nine other trusts which collect the major revenues that come from the various buildings associated with the temple. Of the approximate Rs.10 crore annual income that is generated from the temple and its other establishments, only a small portion is accounted in the SPTT,” Nair alleged.
The temple also gets Rs.20 lakh as annual grant from the Kerala government and Rs.200,000 each from Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra governments.
“Several of the temple’s properties are now owned by business houses that have purchased it from the Travancore royal family. Recently, the Sree Padham Palace was sold for Rs.1.70 crore, but the proceeds of the sale have not been accounted for in the main temple trust account,” added Nair.
Devasom Minister G. Sudhakaran said the government had not discussed the issue. The Devasom looks into the running of various temples in the state.
“If they feel that there is corruption in the affairs of the temple the employees should file a complaint,” said Sudhakaran.
