NAGAPATTINAM : An emerald lingam (Maragatha Lingam) dating back to over 1,000 years, was stolen from the Thiyagaraja Swamy temple in Thirukkuvalai near Nagapattinam on Sunday. The temple is administered by the Dharmapuram Aatheenam and the lingam is believed to have been brought by King Rajendra Chola from an East Asian country.
According to M Savurirajan, superintendent of the temple, pooja was performed to the Lingam on Sunday morning, following which the priest went for lunch. Upon his return to prepare for the evening rituals, he found the safe broken open and the idol missing. “We are about to install CCTV cameras inside the temple. The stolen lingam is priceless and the water, milk and honey we use to anoint the idol are believed to have healing powers,” Savurirajan told Express.
The Nagapattinam Police have formed three teams to investigate the case. According to the police, an alarm installed within the sanctum sanctorum failed to function for reasons unknown. M Durai, Nagapattinam Superintendent of Police, said, “A scientific analysis is being carried out. We initially expanded our probe to the adjacent Tiruvarur and Thanjavur, besides Nagapattinam. The three teams have been assigned with distinctive tasks to nab the culprits at the earliest.”
He added that the police were using information from similar thefts to crack the case. “We have collected information about two previous cases in which similar emerald lingams were stolen from temples at Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam in 2009 and 1991. Similarly, information on two recent artefact thefts in the Vikrapandiyam and Kottur zones of Thiruvarur district is being perused for leads. Criminals involved in three of these four cases have been arrested and we are quizzing them. We also zeroed in on the suspects, brokers and businessmen involved in those cases, and will soon interrogate them,” he said.
Lunch break heist
The emerald lingam, which dates back to over 1,000 years, was found missing after the temple priest returned from lunch on Sunday to prepare for the evening rituals.