Padmanabha's wealth looks doubly safe

Padmanabha's wealth looks doubly safe

Thiruvananthapuram: Before wealth was discovered in its undergrounds vaults, Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple was a peaceful place. The only people on guard were Mathilakom guards, half-naked men in white dhoties who carried a stick that would not have threatened even a stray dog. They, instead of fear, had only evoked nostalgia for a bygone era.

But now the place is forever on high alert, as if the prime minister of the country is about to visit the temple with the American president in tow. Speed sliding doors that can shut entry points within a second, giant bollards or large cylindrical blocks that remains invisible but shoots up from the ground to stop suspicious vehicles, blockers operating on state-of-the-art hydraulic technology, bomb detectors, spy cams, gun-toting commandos, a central command, in short all ultra-modern safeguards to nip in the bud any attacks, terrorist or otherwise, are firmly in place.

The air space above the temple special security zone, an area that covers three square kilometres and includes places that lie within 200 metres of the temple on all four sides, too has been secured. Like the air space above the Taj Mahal, this too has been declared a no-fly zone.

The third dimension

Now that the land and the sky have been cleared of danger, the police wants to sanitise the third dimension: the underground. Lest thugs find their way to the underground vaults through a tunnel, a possibility explored by popular movies, it has been decided to install seismic sensors around the temple. "These sensors will catch even the slightest subterranean rumble and promptly issue an alert," said Thiruvananthapuram range IG Manoj Abraham, who is in charge of the temple's security. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, owned by the Centre, has already made a presentation.

It is not the Lord alone who is watching

Padmanabhaswamy Temple

The existing surveillance cameras will be replaced with ultramodern ones that operate on artificial intelligence (AI) principles. "These cameras, unlike the ones we have now, will generate alerts automatically," the IG said. At the moment there are 52 surveillance cameras inside and outside the temple. "All movements of devotees - right from their entry, all through their progress inside the temple, to their exit - are under surveillance," said V Ajith, the deputy commissioner of police who heads the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple Security (SPSTS), headquartered at the western entrance to the temple.

Innumerable instances of female harrassment and pick-pocketing have come to the notice of the DCP's team. "Immediate action was taken and now it looks like the temple is safer in more ways than one," the DCP said. He said 72 more cameras, of the AI variety, will soon be installed.

Phantom police

Ajith has 300 police personnel under him, and this includes 50 commandos. There is a bomb detection squad, and a telecommunications wing that processes the images from the spy cams. There is also a women police unit of 50 headed by a woman circle inspector. "At any given time, 100 police personnel will be on duty in the temple," Ajith said. They are posted both inside and outside the temple. "And all have been provided guns. They are also given regular shooting classes," the DCP said.

The police also has a non-intrusive way of keeping an eye on what is happening in the houses and buildings around the temple. "The houses and new constructions within the special security zone are under our constant supervision," the DCP said. He also has an intelligence wing to gather information about the people who visit houses nearby. "We don't ask people to report if they have guests but our intelligence wing will alert us if there is suspicion," Ajith said.

Padmanabhaswamy Temple

Guards from the past

The police provides self-defence training to the Mathilakom guards, too. But it is business as usual for the traditional guards of the royal family. "Our job has always been to instruct devotees on the traditions of the temple and ensure that they abide by them. We continue to do our job," said Madhusoodanan, the commander of the guards.

But their work has become harder. "Before the talk about gold and diamonds there was no such rush," the commander said. Along with the rush, the strength of their platoons have also diminished. Its two platoons have just 14 and 19 'sepoys'. Earlier, when all was clam, the platoons had at least 25 'sepoys'. Each platoon has two 'naiks' or chiefs. Madhusoodanan commands the entire unit.

Their uniform is still the white dhoti and a silk cloth tied around the waist. Amid the crowd of khakhis and commando military fatigues and ultramodern security apparatus, quite out of place in a temple, Mathilakom guards are like the last patches of tradition left.

But with modern gadgets everywhere, Mathilakom guards have also had a change of weapon. If earlier they had a stick, they now have what Madhusoodanan calls a 'cain'. It is a thick blunt rod, half the size of a lathi, made of teakwood with gold-plated works on it that looks straight out of a history museum. It is as if even in change the Mathilakom guards reinforce tradition.

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