Royal Theft at Kowdiar Palace: Antique Gold Pearl Jewelry Worth Rs 2 Crore Missing

Peroorkada police have registered a theft case after around 12 pieces of antique gold jewellery, weighing more than 40 sovereigns and estimated at over Rs 2 crore, were found missing from an iron almirah in the bedroom of Aswathi Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi, a senior member of the Travancore royal family, at Kowdiar Palace in Thiruvananthapuram.

The jewellery was last seen approximately 10 days before Gowri Lakshmi Bayi opened the cupboard in November 2025 in preparation for a trip to Bengaluru. The family initially suspected the ornaments had been temporarily removed by someone within the palace and conducted an internal search before approaching police after several months of fruitless inquiry.

The missing pieces represent a cross-section of South Indian royal goldsmithing at its most specific. Among them: gold chains embedded with orange coral beads and gold pearls; anklets fashioned in the traditional Pichipoo Mottu design; ornaments studded with black and gold beads; gemstone-encrusted heirlooms passed down through generations; gold coins; and pieces engraved with the image of Padmanabha Swamy, the presiding deity of the Travancore dynasty. Several items were brought from abroad, and many carry a provenance rooted in royal inheritance rather than commercial acquisition. Mathrubhumi noted that the actual value of the collection may run significantly higher than the Rs 2 crore estimate precisely because of that heirloom status.

The case has been registered under Section 305 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Investigators at Peroorkada are pursuing what they describe as a multi-pronged probe, with primary suspicion falling on individuals familiar with the palace's interior layout and the location of valuables. Palace staff and former employees are being questioned. A forensic team, including fingerprint experts and a dog squad, has already completed an inspection of the premises, and CCTV footage covering the October-to-November 2025 window is under analysis.

A secondary line of inquiry has emerged from social media: videos showing the interiors of Kowdiar Palace recently circulated online, and investigators are working to identify who recorded and distributed the footage and whether it provided actionable intelligence to those behind the theft. The palace serves as the official residence of the Travancore royal family, and police have characterized the investigation as a highly sensitive case.

The theft is believed to have occurred sometime between October and November 2025, though the exact date remains unconfirmed pending review of the full FIR. No arrests have been publicly announced.