The valuables have an estimated preliminary worth of over 500 billion rupees ($11.2 billion), said Kerala Chief Secretary K. Jayakumar, catapulting the temple into the league of India’s richest temples.

The thousands of necklaces, coins and precious stones have been kept in at least five underground vaults at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple which is renowned for its intricate sculptures.

“We are yet to open one more secret chamber which has not been opened for nearly 140 years,” Jayakumar told AFP.

The actual value of the treasure haul can be ascertained only after it is examined by the archaeological department, said Jayakumar.

The temple, dedicated to Hindu lord Vishnu, was built hundreds of years ago by the king of Travancore and donations by devotees have been kept in the temple’s vaults since.

A necklace found on Thursday was 18 feet (six metres) long. Thousands of gold coins have also been found.

Since India achieved independence from Britain in 1947, a trust managed by descendants of the Travancore royal family has controlled the temple.

But India’s Supreme Court recently ordered that the temple be managed by the state to ensure the security of valuables at the shrine.

Until now, the Thirupathy temple in southern Andhra Pradesh state was believed to be India’s richest temple with offerings from devotees worth 320 billion rupees.

The revelation about the huge riches in the Padmanabhaswamy temple has forced police to sharply step install security cameras and alarms.

Authorities also plan to set up a commando force for security, said Kerala director general of police Jacob Punnoose.

“Now it?s known all over the world that the Padmanabhaswamy temple has jewels worth billions of rupees we have decided to assign it maximum security,” Stated Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. More details can be seen at http://www.newsforall.com/2011/07/treasure-tumbles-out-of-indian-temple.html

Romanian Coins Found in UK

A treasure hunterhas found about 52,500 Roman coins, one of the biggestsuch discoveries ever in Britain, officials said Thursday.

The hoard, which was valued at 3.3 million pounds ($5 million), containsplentyof coins bearing the imageof Marcus Aurelius Carausius, who seized power in Britain and northern France in the late third century and proclaimed himself emperor.

Dave Crisp, a treasure hunter using a metal detector, located the coins in April in a field in southwestern England, according to the Somerset County Council and the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

The coins were buried in a large jar about a foot (30 centimeters) deep and weighed about 160 kilograms (350 pounds) in all.

Crisp said a “funny signal” from his metal detector prompted him to startdigging.

“I put my hand in, pulled out a bit of clay and there was a little radial, a little bronze Roman coin – very, very small, about the size of my fingernail,” Crisp said in an interview with the BBC.

He recovered about 20 coins beforediscovering that they were in a pot, and realized he needed expert help.

“Because Mr. Crisp resisted the temptation to dig up the coins it has allowed archaeologists from Somerset County Council to carefully excavate the pot and its contents, ensuring important evidence about the circumstances of its burial was preserved,” said Anna Booth, of Somerset Council.

Somerset Coroner Tony Williams scheduled an inquest Thursday to formally determine whether the find is subject to the Treasure Act, a formal step toward determining a price to be paid by any institution which wishes to acquire the hoard.

The hoard is one of the largest ever found in Britain, and will reveal more about the nation’s history in the third century, said Roger Bland, of the British Museum. The find includes more than 760 coins from the reign of Carausius, the Roman naval officer who seized power in 286 and ruled until he was assassinated in 293.

“The late third century A.D. was a time when Britain suffered barbarian invasions, economic crises and civil wars,” Bland said.

“Roman rule was finally stabilized when the Emperor Diocletian formed a coalition with the Emperor Maximian, which lasted 20 years. This defeated the separatist regime which had been established in Britain by Carausius.

“This find presents us with an opportunity to put Carausius on the map. School children across the country have been studying Roman Britain for decades, but are never taught about Carausius our lost British emperor.”

The discovery of the Roman coins follows last year’s discovery of a hoard of Anglo-Saxon coins in central England. The so-called Staffordshire Hoard included more than 1,500 objects, mostly made from gold.

The Portable Antiquities Scheme is a department of the British Museum which deals with treasure finds.