Thiruvananthapuram: In accordance with the order of the Supreme Court in India, Additional District and Sessions Judge K P Indira has taken over as chairperson of the new administrative committee of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala Indira took over as the chairperson of the new administrative committee last evening. The apex court has ordered that the ancient grand temple, controlling by the Travancore Royal family for centuries would be under the administration of a five-member panel headed by the District Judge. Since the district judge here is a non-Hindu, the charge was handed over to the Additional District Judge as the immediate junior judicial officer. The judge will be acting as the head of the panel consisting of the temple ‘Thantri’ (traditional high priest), ‘Nambi’ (chief priest) and two other members to be nominated in consultation with the state government and the royal family. The court has appointed senior IAS office K N Satheesh who is now on election duty in Andhra Pradesh as executive officer of the temple. The interim order was issued after considering the report of the amicus curiae Gopal Subaranaim in the case, whose report has revealed alleged misappropriation in the management of the temple, where the vaults contain immense wealth. The court had also appointed former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai to head an expert team for undertaking an audit of the infinite temple wealth.

Video on temple administration