Padmanabhaswamy Temple, India

One of the planet’s most enigmatic and opulent sites lies in the southwest of the Indian sub-continent, in what was once the Kingdom of Travancore. Bustling trade routes for precious spices cut straight through these lands, and merchants from every corner of the world traditionally left lavish offerings to the god Vishnu in hopes of a prosperous journey. For centuries, gold and gems piled up inside Padmanabhaswamy Temple, built in Thiruvananthapuram by Maharaja Marthanda Varma.

Towering over the complex is a 100-foot gopuram, and a pillared hallway of 365 hand-carved granite columns leads to the temple’s most sacred treasure: a 18-foot-tall statue of Vishnu, gilded and studded with jewels, fashioned from 10,008 holy stones. The deity is shown in eternal slumber, reclining on the thousand-headed serpent Ananta-Shesha. Generation after generation, the direct descendants of Travancore’s rajas served as stewards of Vishnu’s earthly wealth—until the secret hidden beneath the temple finally came to light.

In 2011 attorney Sundara Rajan petitioned India’s Supreme Court, demanding that the vaults—sealed for more than 130 years—be opened and placed under government control. Rajan argued that, without modern security, the priceless hoard was in danger of being looted. Despite protests from the octogenarian heir of the Travancore royal line, who claimed hereditary rights over the temple, the court sided with Rajan. A special government panel unsealed five of the six underground chambers, and the inventory shocked the world: tons of gold coins and bars, sacks of diamonds, ruby- and emerald-studded crowns, a 16-foot golden chain, and a solid-gold statue of Vishnu.

The most chilling discovery, however, awaited the team at the sixth and final vault. They never managed to open it—the door was sealed with a unique “serpent symbol” said to guard the deity’s rest. Local priests categorically forbade entry, warning of an ancient curse. According to them, the room holds the temple’s untouchable reserve, to be used only in a time of existential peril for the kingdom and its people. Legend claims a huge three-headed cobra with ruby eyes protects the treasury, and any uninvited guest will meet a gruesome death.

From 100 Cursed Places · Fern Flower Press