"Do not count diamonds ...": An Indian sheikh's luxury jewelry tour ended in a daring robbery

Maharaja—that word alone conjures up magical palaces full of servants and lovers, jeweled elephants, and treasuries bursting with diamonds and emeralds. Indian princes from ancient times owned fabulous values; the conquest of India by the Mughals in the 16th-17th centuries did not destroy its wealth, unlike the conquest of India by the British in the 18th century. The Islam of the Great Mughals was not fanatical, they did not persecute Hinduism and planted in India an exquisite, refined Persian culture. In addition, they loved to show off their wealth, and from that moment the treasures of India became a great temptation for Europe.

Indian and European tastes for precious stones and jewelry techniques met in the 16th century, when Portuguese merchants settled in Goa first saw huge, engraved emeralds, and local lords became intimately familiar with European weapons.

The heyday of mutual influences happened in the 17th century. It was then that European craftsmen began to cut gems for the Maharajas, because the Indian tradition preferred only to emphasize the natural properties of the stone. Covering, for example, a huge emerald with fine carvings from all sides, the craftsmen sought not so much to hide the defects of the stone as to emphasize its natural qualities.

Portrait of the Maharaja of Mysore.

Victoria and Albert Museum, London

And from the same moment, European artists (and their local followers) began to paint ceremonial portraits of maharajas, decorated with pearl threads, earrings and plumes, with necklaces, bracelets, rings and daggers studded with rubies, emeralds and diamonds..

Box made of yellow jadeite, decorated with rubies, diamonds, emeralds, 1700-1800

From the beginning of the 17th century, European jewelers and goldsmiths appeared at the Mughal court. Shah Ja Khan, according to some reports, invited a certain Austen of Bordeaux to make two peacocks from precious stones for his throne and ordered five panels of gems from Italy for the balcony of his palace in Delhi. European jewelers taught the Indian technique of multi-colored enamels and learned a lot themselves, for example, the method of continuous tape or rail setting of stones sunk across the entire gold surface, covered with a thin engraved pattern of curly leaves and shoots.

The Maharajas of the Mughal family lost much of their luster during the colonial era. Nevertheless, even at the beginning of the 20th century, they amazed Parisian, London and New York jewelers, appearing in their workshops with whole suitcases of precious stones, which eventually migrated to other owners.

Jacques Cartier with Indian gem merchants, 1911 (photo from the Cartier archive). From his first visit to India, in 1911, Jacques Cartier (1884-1942) became acquainted with the extravagant tastes of the Maharajas. Fabulously wealthy and greedy for precious stones, Indian princes would stop at nothing to satisfy their eternal appetite for jewels.

Design for a ceremonial necklace for the Maharaja of Nawanagar, 1931 (photo from the archives of Cartier London). Jacques Cartier presented his dazzling sketch to the Maharaja. Unfortunately, the Maharaja of Navanagara did not wear this stellar cascade of colored diamonds for long. He died in 1933, two years after the necklace was delivered to him.

Perhaps the most famous of all the treasures of the Maharajas is the "Necklace of Patiala", the ceremonial necklace of Maharaja Bhupindar Singh: it was made by the Parisian house of Cartier for the Maharaja of Patiala in 1928. It weighed almost 1000 carats and included the famous De Beers diamond weighing 234.69 carats.

Patiala is the largest Sikh state in India, and its rulers kept their treasures under British rule. Its ruler Maharaja Bhupindar Singh (1891-1938) was the true eastern ruler. He ordered his guns from Westley Richards in Birmingham, Dupont from Paris supplied him with unique precious lighters, and Rolls-Royce made cars to order. Maharaja was fabulously wealthy and he provided jobs not only for Cartier jewelers, but also for Boucheron craftsmen.

The history of the necklace began in 1888, when a 428.5 carat diamond was mined in South Africa - the seventh largest stone in the world.

After cutting, it was exhibited at the World Exhibition of 1889 in Paris, where it was bought by the Maharaja of Patiala and the prince of the Indian province of Punjab, Rajendra Singh.

In 1925, the Maharaja's son Bhupindar brought the diamond to Paris and applied to the Cartier jewelry house with a request to create an extravagant necklace based on it.

For three years, Cartier craftsmen worked on this necklace, in the center of which a De Beers diamond shone. The finished piece was a cascade of 2,930 diamonds totaling 962.25 carats and two rubies set in platinum. When completed, the necklace of the Maharaja of Patiala was unparalleled in the world. Cartier was so proud of his work that he asked permission to exhibit the necklace before it was sent to India. The Maharaja agreed. Later, he was often photographed with this necklace. The necklace was last seen intact on his son, Maharaja Yadavindra Singh, in 1941.

In the late 40s - early 50s. hard times have come for the Maharajas of India. Many families had to part with some of their jewelry. The famous necklace of the Maharaja of Patiala did not escape this fate: the largest stones, including the De Beers diamond and rubies, were removed and sold. The last to sell were platinum chains.
And after many years, these chains appeared in London in 1998. Cartier stumbled upon them by chance, found out, bought and decided to restore the necklace, although he believed that it would be almost impossible to find a worthy replacement for the De Beers diamond and rubies.

The work was incredibly difficult, especially since the only evidence of the existence of the necklace was a black and white photograph taken in the first half of the 20th century.

Over the years, the necklace has suffered a lot. In fact, little is left of the original: most of the stones, including the giant diamond and rubies, are gone. It took almost two years to rebuild the necklace. In 2002, the restored necklace was exhibited in Paris. The new necklace looks exactly like the original, at least to the untrained eye. Synthetic stones almost unmistakably convey the splendor of the original, but Cartier does not lose hope of someday replacing them with genuine ones.

The Maharajas of Baroda had one of the most significant collections of jewelry of the 19th century - it contained the "Star of the South", a Brazilian diamond weighing 129 carats, and the "English Dresden", a diamond cut in the form of a teardrop weighing 78.53 carats. But the greatest treasure of the Baroda treasury was a huge seven-row necklace of natural pearls.

In the 20th century, this collection was inherited by Maharaja Pratapsingh Gaekwar, who reigned from 1939-1947, then they went to his young wife named Sita Devi. The young wife lived mainly in Europe and ordered fashion jewelry with hereditary gems from renowned Western jewelers.

Prince Gaekwar Baroda

Among these products are a necklace with emeralds and diamonds and Van Cleef & Arpels earrings, which were sold at Christie's in Geneva on May 15, 2002.

Apparently, Sita Devi also ordered the men's necklace to be remade into seven strands, too bulky for a woman's neck. In 2007, at Christie's auction, what was left of Baroda's necklace - two strands of huge pearls with a Cartier clasp with a pillow-cut diamond, a brooch, a ring and earrings - was sold for $ 7.1 million.

There was something else in the treasury of Baroda. In 2009, at a Sotheby's auction in Doha, a pearl carpet was sold (for $ 5.5 million), woven 150 years ago by order of the richest Maharaja Gaekwara Khandi Pao as a gift to the prophet Mohammed. The carpet is embroidered with two million pearls and decorated with thousands of gems - diamonds , sapphires, emeralds and rubies, totaling an astonishing 30,000 carats.

Maharaja Dilip Singh of Lahore. 1852 Portrait of George Beachy. Pictured at fifteen. Among many other gems, he wears a diamond aigrette with three diamond feathers and an emerald in the center.

Egret of diamonds, sapphires, rubies, pearls and gold

The largest engraved emeralds in the world seem to come from the collection of Maharaja Darbhanga Bahadur Singh. In October 2009, at Christie's auction, the Taj Mahal emerald was sold for almost $ 800 thousand, so named because the motifs of its engraving - lotus, chrysanthemum and poppies - coincide with the patterns in the Taj Mahal. The hexagonal emerald weighs about 141 carats and dates from around the middle of the 17th century.In the collection of the Maharajas of Darbhang there was another stone - "Mughal Emerald", it dates from 1695-1696. On one of its sides, five lines of Shiite prayer are engraved in calligraphy, the other side is decorated with a flower pattern. It was sold at auction by Christie's in 2001 for $2.3 million to a private individual.

This breathtaking 61.50-carat whiskey-coloured diamond called "The Eye of the Tiger" was installed by Cartier in an aigrette on a turban for the Maharaja of Nawanagar in 1934.

The sword of incredible beauty was presented to King Edward VII by the Maharaja of Jaipur, Sawai Sir Madho Singh Bahadur, in honor of his coronation in 1902. It is made of steel and gold, covered with blue, green and red enamel and inlaid over 700 white and yellow diamonds weighing 2000 carats, making up a pattern of flowers and lotus leaves. Photo: PA

Chalma Maharaja Singh Bhupendra Patiala. 1911 trimmed with aigrette by Cartier in combination with other turban embellishments. While the front of the aigrette is adorned with diamonds, rubies and emeralds, the sides are masterfully crafted with intricate leaf motifs in red, green and blue enamel. The Maharaja also wears a necklace of fourteen strands of natural pearls.

Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh Bahadur of Alwar was born in 1882. In addition to traditional Indian jewelry, he wears a star - the highest Indian insignia given to him by the king, which was considered part of the royal regalia at that time.

Maharaja Saraiji-Roa, Gaekwar, Baroda. 1902 is decorated with seven rows of his famous diamond necklace and other diamond jewelry. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, virtually every Indian Maharaja had an official photo in which he was presented with the most important jewels as a symbol of power and position.

Intercultural Exchange, Miniature Painting from the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, India. 1902. An unknown Indian artist depicted King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra as the King-Emperor and Queen-Empress of India.

Turban aigret in platinum with diamonds and emeralds. Private collection. 1930 year

Jewels for the ceremonial uniform of the Maharaja, late 19th century .

Ceremonial turban by Cartier for the Maharaja of Kapurthal

Maharaja of Kolhapur

Maharaja Darbhanga

Maharaja Alwara (1882-1937).

The famous sapphire "Star of Asia" weighs 330 carats

Emerald and diamond necklace containing 17 rectangular emeralds, 277 carats. The emerald in the pendant weighed 70 carats and was famous for coming from the collection of the former Sultan of Turkey.

Jacques Cartier made an Art Deco necklace for the Maharaja of Nawanagar.

Maharana of Udaipur

Maharaja Bhupindra Singh of Patiala

Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir

Emerald necklace with pendant that belonged to Maharani Prem Kumari, wife of the Maharaja of Kapurthal, 1910

A scattering of flowers made of precious stones - an agret on a turban of rubies, emeralds and beryl on one side, and with the same stones? but with the addition of diamonds on the other side. The stem and side branches of the jewel are covered with transparent green enamel. Egret once belonged to the Maharaja of Jaipur.

Nowadays, most of the ancient jewels of Indian Maharajas have been remade many times and have changed several owners. But to this day, the provenance "belonged to the Maharaja" significantly increases the price of stones and necklaces at all significant auctions in the world.

Maharaja Bhupinder Singh wearing a Patiala necklace designed by Cartier

Shortly after the formation of De Beers (De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited) in March 1888, an incredible yellow diamond weighing 428.50 old carats was found in one of the mines (used until 1913). Its dimensions were 47.6 mm x 38.1 mm. The stone was named after the company, De Beers, and was the largest diamond found in the company's Kimberley mines at the time.
Now De Beers is considered the 7th largest diamond in the world (234.65 carats). The place where the stone was cut is unknown, but apparently it was made in Amsterdam, which was considered the main center for cutting diamonds.

The diamond was exhibited in Paris, where it was acquired by the Maharaja of Patiala. In 1928, the Cartier Company used the stone as the basis for the ceremonial jewelry that became world famous as the Patiala Necklace.

But as it happens during periods of historical cataclysms, with the end of the era of the Maharajas, the necklace also disappeared. So that his remains were found in 1998 in a jewelry commission in London. All large stones have disappeared: seven stones ranging in size from 17 to 13 carats that made up the pendant and the De Beers yellow diamond itself.

Nevertheless, Cartier bought the remains of the necklace and after 4 years recreated the former grandeur of the jewelry. Instead of lost large diamonds, zircons (cubic zirconium) and synthetic rubies were used instead of Burmese splendor, small diamonds were replaced with diamonds. The problem arose when recreating the center stone, the De Beers yellow diamond. It is known that a synthetic material was used, but the press did not open the exact information. It is assumed that it was yellow cubic zirconia.

The original necklace consisted of 2,930 diamonds weighing 962.25 carats.

The necklace is currently on display at the Biennale of Antiques in Paris.
As for the De Beers diamond, it "surfaced" in 1982 at Sotheby's and was sold for $3.16 million, cheaper than planned (the reserve was $4.5 million).

The multibillion-dollar “treasure” was known for a long time

Do not count diamonds in stone caves ... The capital of the Indian state of Kerala with an almost unpronounceable name Thiruvananthapuram is now known to the whole world. On Sunday, fabulous treasures were discovered in the underground catacombs of the local temple of Sri Padmanabhaswami. “MK” contacted a representative of the local administration in the hope of finding out the details of the amazing find.

The temple held great treasures.

— Who and how found these huge treasures?

— It was a purposeful action, since the authorities have long feared for the safety of artifacts and jewelry in this temple, - T. A. Shine, a representative of the local administration, told “MK” by phone.— The Supreme Court has chosen seven qualified specialists. And these people opened the secret rooms, where the treasures were found. However, no one divulged detailed information about how many valuables there are and what their total value is. Information about the value of jewelry, which is reported in the media, is inaccurate.

Who will own this wealth?

- In the next ten days, the High Court of Kerala should publish a report on this decision, then it will become clear who will get the treasure. In addition, it is necessary to conduct an inventory and registration of all artifacts.

What is being done to ensure the safety of valuables?

- Round the clock security posts have already been set up around the temple ...

Indeed, a find in the temple is not one of those that are made by accident (Padmanabhaswamy is not the only religious building in which countless treasures are stored. For example, 3 tons of gold is stored in the Tirumal temple in Andhra Pradesh.)

It was known that numerous treasures were hidden within the walls of the temple complex in the state of Kerala - precious offerings accumulated over many, many years. One of the secret rooms, for example, has not been opened for almost 140 years. But the authorities went for it after one of the local lawyers went to court, demanding that the valuables be protected.

In its current form, this Hindu temple was built by one of the most powerful rulers of Travancore, King Marthanda Varma in the 18th century (although its history dates back to the 8th century). In 1750, the Maharaja dedicated his kingdom to Padmanabha (an incarnation of Vishnu), the chief deity in the kingdom. For centuries, pilgrims have brought alms to the abode of Vishnu, one of the most revered gods in Hinduism.

Now around Sri Padmanabhaswami, numerous police squads equipped with metal detectors are constantly on duty to prevent possible attempts to grab even a piece of the wealth found. The shrine is already besieged by numerous pilgrims and just onlookers. The local authorities decided to send a detachment of commandos out of harm's way to the shrine.

It seems that the court-appointed members of the commission who were supposed to carry out the inventory had no idea about the amount of treasures resting in the temple.

Despite the reluctance of the authorities to give numbers, the contents of the treasuries are described in detail on the temple’s website - gold coins from the times of the East India Company (as many as 17 kg were found), bags with all kinds of precious stones (from emeralds to diamonds), a 30-centimeter statuette of Vishnu made of pure gold, inlaid with stones, as well as a golden statue of Krishna, weighing under 5 kg. In the treasuries rested ancient crowns, as well as all sorts of gold trinkets weighing a ton. It is also known that among the finds is a six-meter necklace made of pure gold weighing 2.5 kilos. All this, according to the administration of the site, is worth approximately $ 22 billion.

And here a sacramental question arises: what to do with billions of valuables pulled out into the world? This question has seriously stirred up the Indian society. Take everything and share? So that every Indian would have to pay $20? No, no and NO. The house of a social activist who offered to donate treasures for public needs was attacked by angry believers. Many devout Hindus believe that the jewels belong to their god. In addition, earthly applicants can be found for treasures. The fact is that the temple itself, unlike many others in the state of Kerala, is not the property of the state, but still belongs to the royal family of Travancore. Although India has long been a republic, former maharajas still have considerable weight.

Amazing find of Indian archaeologists

At the beginning of the 18th century, the principality of Travancore was formed in the southwest of the Hindustan peninsula. For many centuries, lively trade routes passed through its territory. European traders of pepper, cloves and cinnamon appeared here in the 16th century, after the caravels of the Portuguese Vasco da Gama sailed here in 1498.

Foreign and Indian merchants who came to Travancore for spices and other goods usually left generous offerings to the god Vishnu in order to receive blessings for successful trade from higher powers and at the same time enlist the favor of local authorities. In addition to donations, gold received from European merchants in payment for spices was stored in the temple.

In 1731, one of the most powerful rulers of Travancore, Raja Marthanda Varma (he ruled from 1729-1758), in the capital city of Trivandrum (now called Thiruvananthapuram - the capital of the present Indian state of Kerala) built the majestic temple of Padmanabhaswami.

Actually, one of the 108 abode of Vishnu has been here since the 3rd century BC. e., and in the XVI century the temple complex was located. The Raja built a gopuram at the same place - the main seven-row tower of the temple 30.5 m high. It is decorated with many statues and sculptures, each of which can be considered a real architectural masterpiece.

Inside the temple there is a long corridor with a colonnade consisting of 365 beautiful granite columns. Their surface is completely covered with carvings, which is an example of the true skill of ancient sculptors.

The main hall of the temple building is decorated with frescoes depicting various mystical stories, and is designed to store the main shrine: a unique statue of Padmanabhaswami - the form of Vishnu, who is in the Anananthasayanam pose, that is, in eternal mystical sleep.

The sculptural incarnation of the supreme god reclines on the giant thousand-headed snake Ananta-Shesha, the king of all the Nagas. From the navel of Vishnu, a lotus grows with Brahma sitting on it. The left hand of the statue is located above the lingam stone, which is considered the most important form and image of Shiva. His wives are sitting nearby: the goddess of the earth Bhudevi and the goddess of prosperity Sridevi.

The 5.5 m high statue is built from 10,008 Shalagramashils (sacred stones) and covered with gold and precious stones. It can be seen from the three gates of the temple - through one the feet are visible, through the other - the body, and through the third - the chest and face. For several hundred years, the direct descendants of the Rajas of Travancore ruled the temple complex and were trustees of Vishnu's earthly property.

However, a few years ago it turned out that both the majestic temple and the magnificent sculpture are only a visible part of Padmanabhaswami's wealth. Moreover, an ancient curse hangs over the province of Kerala.

The fact is that in 2009, the well-known Indian lawyer Sundara Rajan wrote a petition to the Supreme Court of India: he demanded to open the storerooms of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple, sealed more than 130 years ago. The lawyer was worried that without proper supervision and accounting, treasures could simply be plundered. Rajan, as a former policeman, pointed to the unacceptably poor security of the temple.

Local police confirmed his words: the Kerala police have neither the technical means nor the experience to protect such wealth. “Laser alarm installations, video surveillance systems and other modern security systems are needed, but we don’t have them”, the police officer said.

In February 2011, the court recognized the correctness of Sundar Rajan and ordered the state to establish proper control over the temple in order to ensure the necessary protection of the valuables stored in its storerooms. According to the court decision, the historical monument was transferred under the jurisdiction of the government of Kerala.

In one of the vaults, crowns inlaid with emeralds and rubies, gold necklaces, a gold chain 5.5 m long, a 36-kilogram gold "cloth", rare coins from different countries, as well as an amazing statue of the god Vishnu, lying on the snake Ananta-Shesha, were found. made of pure gold and having a height of 1.2 m.

According to preliminary data, the found treasures are estimated at almost a trillion Indian rupees, which exceeds $ 20 billion in gold equivalent. This is more than the budget of the entire Delhi metropolitan area!

According to Indian archaeologists and researchers, they had no idea how impressive the found treasure would be. Naturally, unprecedented measures were taken by the state government to ensure the safety of the treasures found. Most of the state police were involved in their protection. In the temple itself, a burglar alarm and surveillance cameras were urgently installed.

After that, the Hindus were seized by a real mania: grabbing metal detectors or armed with pure enthusiasm, crowds of “pilgrims” ran to the temples - what if there are similar treasures somewhere else? Those who have never been distinguished by piety rushed into the “houses of the gods”.

Everyone knows that since ancient times, the rich families of India have generously donated jewelry to temples, in addition, there was a custom during wars and civil strife to hide the city treasury in temples. But sacred buildings in India have always been inviolable, and not all Hindus rushed to search for treasures - believers are horrified by the actions of "blasphemers" and claim that the gods will not forgive the invasion of their homes.

At the same time, the intrigue around the Padmanabhaswami temple continues to unfold. After all, only five treasures were opened. After that, they were going to open the last of the six underground vaults, where, as it is believed, the most valuable part of the treasure is located.

However, the curses threatened by the priests of Vishnu stop the top officials of Kerala from taking decisive action. And the most striking example of the fact that it is unreasonable to dismiss the threats of the priests was the mysterious death of the initiator of sacrilege.

Less than a week after the opening of the treasure, as the seventy-year-old Sundar Rajan suddenly died, according to the official version - from a fever. A physically strong man, who had never complained about his health before, died suddenly, and the autopsy did not establish the exact cause of his death. Of course, many Indians did not believe the reports in the press and regarded his death as a punishment for Vishnu for disturbed sleep.

Not going to give up and a descendant of the rulers of Travancore. He declared that he would fight for the inviolability of the last cache of treasures of the Padmanabhaswamy temple. This cache was not opened at the same time as the five other rooms, because it was sealed with a special "sign of the serpent" that guards the peace of Vishnu. And it's not even about the treasures that are stored there.

The Mystery of the Sealed Door of the Padmanabhaswami Temple

There is a legend that in the room, sealed with the "sign of the snake", a kind of emergency reserve of the Vishnu temple is stored. The gold and jewels stored there are forbidden to be touched.

Only in the most extreme case, when the fate of the principality and the people living in it is at stake, will the priests, after a special ceremony, be allowed to open the door to the treasury guarded by a huge three-headed cobra with ruby ​​eyes. Those who try to arbitrarily enter the dungeon will face a terrible death.

This door does not have locks, bolts, latches or any other latches. It is believed that it is hermetically sealed by means of sound waves.

It is said that somewhere at the end of the 19th century, the British, who then felt themselves complete masters in India, despite all the warnings of the rajah and priests, decided to penetrate the forbidden treasury. But they failed to do so.

The daredevils, who entered the dungeon with torches and lamps, soon jumped out with wild cries. According to them, giant snakes attacked them from the darkness. The enraged reptiles could not be stopped either by sharp daggers or shots. Several people were bitten by poisonous creatures.

In terrible torment, the blasphemers who encroached on the treasures of Vishnu died in the hands of their comrades. No one else dared to repeat their attempt to get into the forbidden pantry.

So the cherished door is not yet open. One of the servants of the temple even testified under oath that it is impossible to open the “door with a snake” - this promises innumerable troubles for everyone. The Supreme Court has ruled that the last sealed vault will not be opened until local authorities guarantee the temple integrity and security, and the treasures - due assessment and protection, documentation, photography and professional attribution. However, as the judges noted, this has not yet been carried out even for the already found wealth.

In the meantime, the supreme judges are dealing with ancient spells, historians and the public are arguing who now owns the treasure and what to do with it. Vice-Rector of the University Mahatma Gandhi in Kerala Rajan Gurukkal is sure that regardless of whether it was a princely or temple treasure, this is a unique archaeological wealth that is several hundred years old.

"And any archaeological site belongs to the nation." Indeed, first of all, the temple treasure is of great value as a source of information about the society of medieval India and not only, since treasures, especially such large ones, can contain coins and jewelry accumulated over fairly long periods of time. Gurukkal is sure that the state should take care of the preservation of the found historical and cultural objects, and calls for sending the treasure to the national museum.

But the ex-head of the Council for Archaeological Research Narayanan told the press that the government, on the contrary, should not interfere - the fate of the treasure should be decided by the temple council. Otherwise, it will be an attack on private property.

Representatives of the Indian intelligentsia, including the former judge of the Supreme Court of India Krishna Iyer, offer to use wealth for the benefit of society: 450 million people live below the poverty line in the country.

The Supreme Court of India is now trying to decide the fate of the huge wealth stored in the basements of the Vaishnavism temple in the city of Thiruvananthapuram. We are talking about treasures, whose value, according to the most conservative estimates, is 22 billion dollars. On the one hand, they are claimed by the descendants of the Rajas, who have been accumulating gold and precious stones for centuries. On the other hand, there are believing Hindus and the trade union of temple servants. Meanwhile, the price of the issue could jump significantly higher, since not all temple vaults have been opened yet, and the total value of the treasures located there is probably equal to a trillion dollars.

“When the granite slab was pushed back, almost absolute darkness reigned behind it - it was diluted only by a dim beam of light from the doorway. I looked into the blackness of the pantry, and a stunning sight opened up to me: as if the stars twinkled in the sky on a moonless night. Diamonds and other gems flared, reflecting the faint light that came in from the open door. Most of the treasures were stored in wooden chests, but over time the wood turned to dust. Jewels and gold simply lay in heaps on the dusty floor. I have never seen anything like it."

This is how one of the members of the special commission appointed by the Supreme Court of India to inspect the treasury - Kallars, in which the Rajas of Travancore, an ancient principality in the territory of the present state of Kerala, stored their wealth for centuries, described the treasures of the Padmanabhaswami temple. In the presence of a descendant of the rajas, one of the vaults was opened to make sure that the ancient legends about the countless riches of the princely family do not lie.

Now Padmanabhaswami is guarded around the clock by 200 policemen. All approaches to the temple are monitored by outdoor surveillance cameras, metal detector frames are installed at the entrance, and machine gunners are placed at key positions. These measures do not look redundant: although the members of the commission have pledged to keep the full list of treasures found secret, by the most conservative estimates, we are talking about values ​​that slightly exceed Croatia's budget. Among the most notable solid gold exhibits are a full-size throne studded with hundreds of diamonds and other precious stones, 800 kilograms of coins, a chain five and a half meters long, and a golden sheaf weighing over half a ton.

At the same time, members of the Hindu communities insist on keeping the treasures in their original place, the article says. And one of them even threatened an action of mass suicides if the valuables were taken out of the temple. Angry Hindus argue that only the descendants of the maharajas who guard the treasures of the temple can decide what to do with them.

However, the head of the state government, Oommen Chandi, has already promised that all valuables will remain in the possession of the temple. He added that consultations are underway with the descendants of the rulers of Travancore and the head priest of the temple on this matter.

On the other hand, many temples put their treasures in a bank (for example, the temple of Tirumala Venkateswara, located in the east of the country, stores a third of its three tons of gold in a bank). Others are actively investing in education and culture, building schools.

Persons of particular interest in the fate of the treasures, who were not at all surprised by what was found in the secret storerooms, are the princely family of Travancore.

PS: By the beginning of the 20th century, 80% of all gold in the world was concentrated in Asia, including India and China. It was the US Federal Reserve that tried to prevent this gold from entering the world circulation ...

Maharaja Bhupinder Singh wearing a Patiala necklace designed by Cartier

Shortly after the formation of De Beers (De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited) in March 1888, an incredible yellow diamond weighing 428.50 old carats was found in one of the mines (used until 1913). Its dimensions were 47.6 mm x 38.1 mm. The stone was named after the company, De Beers, and was the largest diamond found in the company's Kimberley mines at the time.
Now De Beers is considered the 7th largest diamond in the world (234.65 carats). The place where the stone was cut is unknown, but apparently it was made in Amsterdam, which was considered the main center for cutting diamonds.

The diamond was exhibited in Paris, where it was acquired by the Maharaja of Patiala. In 1928, the Cartier Company used the stone as the basis for the ceremonial jewelry that became world famous as the Patiala Necklace.

But as it happens during periods of historical cataclysms, with the end of the era of the Maharajas, the necklace also disappeared. So that his remains were found in 1998 in a jewelry commission in London. All large stones have disappeared: seven stones ranging in size from 17 to 13 carats that made up the pendant and the De Beers yellow diamond itself.

Nevertheless, Cartier bought the remains of the necklace and after 4 years recreated the former grandeur of the jewelry. Instead of lost large diamonds, zircons (cubic zirconium) and synthetic rubies were used instead of Burmese splendor, small diamonds were replaced with diamonds. The problem arose when recreating the center stone, the De Beers yellow diamond. It is known that a synthetic material was used, but the press did not open the exact information. It is assumed that it was yellow cubic zirconia.

The original necklace consisted of 2,930 diamonds weighing 962.25 carats.

The necklace is currently on display at the Biennale of Antiques in Paris.
As for the De Beers diamond, it "surfaced" in 1982 at Sotheby's and was sold for $3.16 million, cheaper than planned (the reserve was $4.5 million).