Temple treasures - part 1

I have been trying to absorb all the news about the vault-discoveries so far. Few links that I found very interesting:

Mr Rajan's inerview (I think this has gotten him into some trouble, seeing today’s news):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuCBTIOf5tY

Hindu report about when the vaults were last opened:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/kerala/article2201786.ece?homepage=true

Wikipedia entries on Padmanabha Swamy temple with recent additions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padmanabhaswamy_Temple

My own take:

I am pretty amazed at the whole thing. The thing that really strikes me is that this escaped notice from the British. I am sure if they had known the details (as we know today), they would have taken the whole thing and shipped it to London (and we may have seen a crown or two as part of the recent Kate wedding without even realizing that it came from Kerala).

Hats off to the royal family who managed to preserve/hide all these for such a long time.

The other thing that kinda worries me is whether all this discovery and attention will cause professional (even international) thieves to get involved and try their luck (I am thinking of the spectacular raids in the museums in Paris and elsewhere). I know there is a lot of security added now, but my worry is what happens in a few months time when this news gets out of the limelight.

Lastly, I hope the traditions/festivals and access to the temple doesn’t change dramatically – My son Rishi still fondly remembers the time he ran with the elephant for the “Seeveli” during our last visit.

If only we can channel all this attention into a tourism boom for Trivandrum and Kerala, that would do a lot of good for the economy. And setting up a museum to somehow associate with a part of the treasures will be a great attraction (if it is done well).

The worst thing that can happen is for the state to absorb all the treasures and then we will see it dissipate quickly (democracy tax in the form of corruption).