Reborn in America: Starting as a California Resident

As is well known, Indians have long been known for their "gold obsession".

As early as 2000 years ago, the Romans discovered that Indian merchants had a particular fondness for Roman gold coins and would be unable to resist buying them.

They would not hesitate to exchange all their goods for gold, and then carry it back to their hometown with satisfaction.

This obsession with gold led ancient Westerners to jokingly refer to India as the "Land of the Goldfinch."

So why are Indians so obsessed with gold?

Beyond the practical economic needs, the deeper reason lies in religious beliefs.

India has three major religions: Hinduism, Sikhism, and Jainism.

Although their religious doctrines differ, they all regard gold as a sacred symbol.

Whether it's 18K or 24K, they are all endowed with so-called divinity.

Not only is it an important part of religious rituals, but temples also often call on believers to donate gold to the temple, claiming that the gods especially love gold.

The Sri Padmanabaswami Temple is one of the most famous temples in India.

It is dedicated to Vishnu, one of the three main gods of Hinduism.

Vishnu is the "god of preservation," gentle in nature, willing to save the world and protect all living beings. He is especially skilled at fulfilling people's wishes and is revered as the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva in Hinduism.

Vishnu's wife, Lakshmi, is the goddess of wealth and happiness, known as "Lady of Fortune".

These two deities enjoy extremely high prestige among the Indian people, and are devoutly worshipped by everyone from the king to ordinary citizens.

According to scattered historical records, when the princes of the local princely states came of age, they had to donate gold equal to their own weight to the Sripadmanabhaswamy temple in order to pray for Vishnu's protection.

However, due to the Indians' lack of attention to historical records, the exact time of the temple's construction can no longer be verified.

All that is known is that it frequently appeared in Hindu documents and various epics during the 800 years from 500 BC to 300 AD, and was hailed as the "Golden Temple".

Legend has it that this temple contains countless treasures of gold and silver!

The Sripadmanabhaswamy Temple underwent several expansions over time, eventually becoming a true golden temple with its main buildings entirely painted gold.

Whenever the sun shines, the entire temple glitters with gold, as if heaven has descended to earth, attracting countless believers and tourists to come and worship.

This temple not only bears witness to the deep affection that Indians have for gold, but has also become an important symbol of Indian culture and religious beliefs.

However, it was precisely this fervent pursuit of gold that ultimately led to the gradual abandonment of the Sripadmanabhaswamy Temple.

Over time, the temple accumulated a great deal of wealth, becoming the target of many greedy eyes.

During the Middle Ages, with the changing of regimes on the Indian subcontinent, foreign invaders such as Muslim armies and European colonists frequently launched attacks in order to plunder the wealth in temples.

These invasions not only caused enormous material losses, but more importantly, they severely undermined the believers' confidence in the safety of the temple.

When believers begin to worry that their offerings might end up in the hands of the enemy, their willingness to donate naturally diminishes.

Furthermore, with socio-economic development and changing attitudes, people's attitudes toward religion have also changed.

The younger generation is more focused on improving their lives and personal development than on investing large amounts of resources in religious activities.

The government is also constantly adjusting its management policies for religious sites, attempting to reduce waste in religious activities and encourage resources to be used in areas that benefit people's livelihoods, such as education and healthcare.

These factors combined caused the once-glorious Sripadmanabhaswamy Temple to gradually lose its former glory and vitality, with a sharp decline in visitor numbers and insufficient maintenance funds, ultimately leading to its decline.

However, fate is always so mysterious!

Just as the Padmanabaswami Temple was hitting rock bottom, it reached its turning point.

In 2009, a retired police officer named TP Sundararajan, out of his love for the profound cultural and historical value of the Sri Padmanabh Swamy Temple, began to actively contact the media and call on all sectors of society to pay attention to this forgotten treasure.

He filed a lawsuit in court, demanding an investigation into the extent of the wealth hidden within the temple.

This move quickly attracted widespread attention both at home and abroad, with media outlets reporting on it extensively and various sectors of society developing a strong interest in this ancient temple.

In June 2011, the Indian Supreme Court finally "couldn't hold back any longer" and decided to send a seven-person team to the temple to search for treasure.

The group's mission is to enter the temple's secret chambers and inventory the treasures within.

When they entered the temple, they found a total of 6 secret chambers, 5 of which had already been opened.

According to media reports, the scene was just like a scene from the movie "Indiana Jones," with various cabinets and jars filled with gold and jewels, some of which were even overflowing from the wooden cabinets!

The investigation team discovered many amazing treasures, including a 1.2-meter-tall golden statue of Vishnu, inlaid with various gemstones, along with a huge solid gold base;

A pure gold divine robe weighing 30 kilograms, with thousands of gold chains, the longest of which is 5.5 meters;

A bundle of gold weighing 500 kilograms;

The three pure gold crowns were clearly donations from successive kings;

More than 100,000 Roman Empire gold coins, as well as various other gold utensils and bags of emeralds, rubies, and sapphires.

The total value of these treasures is estimated to exceed 1 trillion rupees, equivalent to 150-200 billion US dollars.

If the value of cultural relics is included, the figure could be even higher.

If we include the most mysterious Room B, the price would probably double.

After all, given the nature of the Indians, how could this secret chamber have provoked such strong opposition from the local royal family if it didn't contain priceless treasures?

As for the reason for the ominous sign?

Stop kidding!

Those who go in aren't powerful or wealthy people; would they care about the life of a lowly slave?

Ultimately, isn't it all about money and the unequal distribution of benefits?

Although Indian media have a habit of exaggerating their claims, even if we fold that figure in half, the wealth of the Sri Padmanabaswami Temple is still astronomical.

This is real gold worth over 10 billion!

This kind of wealth is much more reliable than the greenbacks issued by the Federal Reserve.

Which American family doesn't try to convert their family wealth into gold to enhance their family's foundation?

Although Henry came from a distinguished family, he knew that it was impossible to quietly keep such a vast fortune to himself.

Geese leave their calls as they fly by, people leave their traces as they pass through;

Unless he is capable of confronting the ten major conglomerates on his own, he must share a portion with powerful figures from all sides.

Nobody likes someone who eats alone!

The problem is not scarcity but inequality; this is an age-old truth.

If one rashly acquires enormous wealth that is disproportionate to one's own abilities, what one gains will not be wealth, but disaster.

Leo Vanta is a prime example.

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