Banke Bihari treasure rooms unearth metal bars and gems

Newsroom, October 20, 2025:

The treasure chambers of Mathura's Banke Bihari temple, sealed since 1971, were inspected for the first time in 54 years on Dhanteras weekend under a Supreme Court-appointed panel's directive, uncovering a gold bar, three silver bars marked with gulal, gemstones in red and green hues, rare coins, and assorted metal vessels in a subterranean space.

The exercise, videographed with police oversight, followed a High Court challenge to a proposed state trust ordinance, which the top court paused pending validity review; the Goswami priests, long-time ritual custodians, contested the probe, citing misinformation on hidden riches.

Saturday's initial check yielded brass pots and wooden artefacts, but Sunday's deeper probe into the locked vault exposed the "yellow metal" and "white metal" items, each silver bar spanning 3-4 feet. No famed relics surfaced like the peacock emerald necklace, silver Sheshnag, or 19th-century royal gifts from Bharatpur, Karauli, and Gwalior, despite past British-era thefts in 1926 and 1936 that prompted the sealing.

The panel, led by retired Allahabad High Court Justice Ashok Kumar, resealed the areas; a follow-up session on October 29 will evaluate the artefacts' preservation and chamber upkeep.