MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday sought a status report from the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed to trace and recover stolen idols of Chokkalinga Meenambigai temple, a 1,000-year-old temple in Tenkasi.
The litigant, C Arulmozhi of Urmelazhagian village of Kadayanallur taluk in Tenkasi, stated in his petition that the above temple, which is situated in his village, was built during the Pandya dynasty and was brought under the control of the HR and CE department in 1972. In 2019, a man who was then the priest of the temple had stolen ‘Ragu’ and ‘Kethu’ idols of the temple and also displaced so many idols from their original position, Arulmozhi alleged.
He further claimed that the said the priest also stole some valuables that were concealed by the Pandyas under the idol of the main deity. He requested the court to direct the authorities to take action against the said priest and also reinstall the stolen and displaced idols. A Bench of justices R Subramanian and L Victoria Gowri set the next hearing for June 22.