The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1890-08-16
rlRuPArl TEMPLE TREASURE.
4 Most Remarkable Trial Before British
Court In India.


1T Is by no means surprising" says
the Colonies and India. THAT the
strange case OF the now famous THRU
patti temple treasure should have excit.
ed such nm extraordinary feeling OF in
dignation as il appears 10 have done
among the Hindu population OF India.
Tirupati Is the Mecca of Hindostan. II,
indeed the comparison Is ut all allow
able. seeing that the temple which has
Just been so grossly defiled was erected,
in the first instance. close upon 1000
years ago.
THE trial In connection with the
robbery Of tho Tirupati treasure Is pro-
badly the most remarkable which has
ever come before a British court in In
da. The sacred temple stands on the
Tirumalat range. some 1000 feet above
sea level, and commands a tract OF
about 100 square miles. the whole OF
which, up TO quite "A recent period. was
regarded In the strictest sense as holy
ground. nobody but Hindu being al
lowed to ascend the ghauts. Even at
the present time the collector and the
superintendent of police are the only
Europeans whom the government per-
init TO invade the sacred territory. ex-
cepting. of course. on special occa-
sions, such as that which arose the
other day when the services of civil
engineer were required within the pre-
cincts of the temple 10 superintend the
excavations.
'.The temple itself has, In reality.
never been entered by a white man,
and all its available entrances are jeal-
ously guarded by armed men, who
have instructions to strike down and,
II necessary. to kill any unauthorized
person who attempts TO invade the
sanctuary. The sacred ediiice Is in
closed by three stone walls, of which
the outer one is twenty-three feet in
height. From the devotec's point of
view the sacredness of the place Is
conferred in great flagstaff. which
penetrates from floor TO roof. and Is 81
feet high. feet in diameter at the base
and 10 inches at the summit. The
staff is incased in copper overlaid with
gold and set in a slab of granite nearly
three feet In thickness. In the inmedi-
ate neighborhood of the flagstaff the
image of the god is preserved. while
the staff itself is actually supposed to
be the abode OF the temple god-or its
mentric essence
Some seventeen years since. it
seems, certain coin treasure, valued
roughly at two laos of rupees, was dis
covered in the temple and was duly
handed over 10 the mahunt as IN lnagcr
and trustee OF the edifice. In 1900 the
Mahunt Dhurma Doss died aud was
succeeded by Sri Hathiramjee Muttam
Won Doss Jee. The new mahunt app
pears to have discharged his sacred
aud responsible functions to the salts
faction of everybody concerned. and in
1887 it was resolved to replace the old
awjastu meum, or sacred flagstaff, bya
new one. Before the work was complet-
itself to the mahunt to bury the treas
ure-the two lacs OF rupees TO which he
had succeeded-under the temple.
The treasure was placed in six cop
per vessels, the covers of which were
duly sealed up, and they were then
buried in the receptacle prepared for
them. Now IL Is found that the gold
has all been removed from them aud
copper coins substituted. Four temple
seryants-by name Narasimha, Kusal,
Gopairao, and Haribbian--were in 1887
intrusted, after being duly sanctified
by divers mysterious rites and cere-
monies. with the burial of tho treasure
pots, and a fact that appears TO inter-
est the police aud others a good deal at
present is that two of them-kusal and
Haribbian-are now each worth a lac
of rupees, although the whole four
were discharged some time ago, aud
none of them are known to have what
is sternly known as lawful visible
means of support
ION the other hand, an astonishing
ly queer-looking case is made out
against the mahunt himself. who. 1t Is
asserted, allowed his cupidity TO over
come the scruples OF his sacred calling
and collarcd the swag himself. The
question as to who has really appropri
ated the treasure seems difficult one,
as far rs the inquiry has proceeded. tc
determine, and IT is possible that the nj.
fair may never be satisfactorily cleared
up. Probably the most natable feat
urc In connection of the affair from
Hindu point of view, at all events, |,
the peculiarly apathetic demcanor OF
tno ihuphli Eou. Nuo nnoulu nave Dtcu
deeply interested in the proceedings.
The 'mantric essence which has exer
cised such an omnipotent power over
the Hindu for centuries past. appears
to have lain dormant while the temple
was defiled. aud the mean trick OF sub
stituting few hundred rupees worth
of copper money for two lao's worth OF
gold coinage was done right under the
pillars Of the Tirupati sanctum."