Banke Bihari toshkhana survey: Gold, silver bars, gemstones found in underground chamber, claim priests

AGRA: A day after several treasure rooms (toshkhana) of Mathura's Banke Bihari temple were ordered to be reopened by a Supreme Court-appointed panel for the first time in 54 years on Dhanteras, the shrine's priests on Sunday claimed that gold and silver bars, gemstones and precious coins were found inside a long box in one of the sealed chambers.

Temple priest Dinesh Goswami, who was present during the survey, told TOI: "One gold bar and three silver bars were spotted by the team with ‘gulal' on it. They were recovered from a long box that was found in the toshkhana. The metals were each roughly 3-4 feet in length. In addition, a few gemstones of red and green colour, precious coins and utensils of different metals were found."


The treasure rooms have remained locked since 1971, and the decision to reopen them was taken last month by the high-powered panel. Mathura DSP Mathura Sadar, Sandeep Singh, who was among those who went inside the chamber, said the entire exercise was "videographed" and committee members along with police teams were also present.

ADM (finance and revenue) Pankaj Kumar Verma, meanwhile, said, " We've noted down the finds in our records as ‘peeli dhaatu' (yellow metal) and ‘safed dhaatu' (white metal), and we'll present all the recoveries before the panel. Until the panel directs a report for evaluation or conducts such an investigation, we cannot divulge the details. The vaults have been sealed again."

Verma added: "The committee is expected to meet on Oct 29 to assess and decide on what to do with the finds and how and where to preserve them. Also, measures on how to preserve the underground rooms and its doors will be decided in that meeting."

Notably, on Day 1 of the exercise on Saturday, only a few brass utensils and some wooden items were found. The toshkhana, last accessed in 1971 to move jewellery into a bank locker, is believed to hold rare treasures including a peacock-shaped emerald necklace, a silver Sheshnag, a golden kalash with navratnas, royal offerings from Bharatpur, Karauli and Gwalior, old land deeds, sealed letters and temple gifts dating back to the 19th century. The treasury, built in 1864, has a long history — including two big thefts during British rule in 1926 and 1936 — after which its main door was sealed.

To locals' dismay, they were told by officials that "none of these past wealths were found so far". Speaking on the exercise, Shailendra Goswami, one of the panel members, said, "You won't find wealth collection in that place; whatever comes, they dedicate it to Thakurji. It's not about accumulating wealth... Whatever cash offerings the temple gets, it gets deposited in the banks. Other offerings are also kept in the banks."

Earlier this year, the SC had set up the committee headed by Justice Ashok Kumar (retired) of the Allahabad high court (HC) to oversee and supervise the temple's day-to-day functioning. On Sept 12, Kumar directed the opening of the long-sealed room in the temple's basement.

Members of the Goswami community, who manage the temple's rituals as ‘sevayats' (priests or servitors), had opposed the exercise. They alleged that misinformation was being spread about ‘khazana' (treasure).

The SC had earlier passed the order while hearing challenges to the UP Shri Bankey Bihari Ji Temple Trust (Ordinance), 2025. The ordinance, which aimed to establish a "state-controlled trust to manage the temple", was opposed by the traditional Goswami families. The SC put the ordinance on hold and directed the HC to rule on its validity, preferably within a year.