The treasure trove of the Banke Bihari Temple in Vrindavan, which stayed closed for 54 years, was opened on Saturday, stoking controversy about its content.
“They have found a wooden box, broken iron pieces, three huge copper pitchers, a huge copper plate, four big round-shaped stones, a wooden bed, two small wooden boxes, a silver umbrella and documents from the 1970s. There was nothing extraordinary there,” a source said.
However, some priests claimed that the officials were lying on the instructions of the Uttar Pradesh government. “We can’t believe that there is nothing valuable in the strongroom. The government should have livestreamed the opening of the strongroom if it were honest,” said Ashish Goswami, a priest.
The temple’s priests had moved the court to prevent the state government from opening the strongroom. However, the Supreme Court had asked the state government to form a committee to take key decisions about the temple, including the opening of the treasure trove. The committee, which opened the strongroom, was headed by a retired judge of Allahabad High Court, a civil judge, two cops and four priests.
Several priests gathered outside the shrine and chanted slogans against the committee and the government. “We wanted the government to make every activity in the treasure room public, but they turned down our demand,” said priest Ramesh Goswami.
Mathura district magistrate C.P. Singh said: “Complete videography of the strongroom was done. The committee will see it again and prepare a detailed report.”
Prahlad Ballabh Goswami, a former member of the temple and local historian, said the strongroom was built in 1864. It was opened in 1971, but its contents were not made public. “They were put in a box and deposited with the Bhuteshwar branch of the State Bank of India in the town. While the members of the temple used to enter the room, located below the sanctum sanctorum, and put the valuable offerings there, the practice was discontinued after two incidents of theft in 1916 and 1926,” he said.
