Aswathi Thirunal Gouri Lakshmi Bayi of the royal family of erstwhile Travancore has said that the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple was largely ignored as long as the amount of wealth in its vaults remained unknown to the outside world.
But when the temple’s wealth gained publicity many started coming forward with claims of authority over the temple.
Gouri Lakshmi Bayi said this while addressing a gathering after inaugurating a special convention of the Kerala Purana Parayana Sangatana here on Sunday.
“Though it is subjudice to talk about issues pertaining to the wealth of the temple, on some occasions there is compulsion to break the silence since how long can one keep quiet,” she said.
She said that her family had always been saying that the family wants to continue doing ‘padaseva’ to Padmanabhaswamy and earn his blessings through that service.
“Our family does not desire even a small bit of gold or a single precious stone from those vaults,” she said.
Gouri Lakshmi Bayi said that she was shocked to learn that pension for ‘Purana Parayana’ workers has been due for the past five months.
She said that while money is the cause of many social evils, money is also vital for the common man.
At the function Gouri Lakshmi Bayi released the fourth annual edition of the magazine ‘Amdai’ by handing over a copy to novelist Prabhakaran Puthur.
Former minister Kadannapally Ramachandran delivered the keynote address. President of the organisation Ambadi Surendran presided.
