CHANDIGARH: Rich temples in Himachal Pradesh are now increasingly being targeted by thieves. There are around 26,500 places of worship in 20,118 villages of the state, of which 5,000 are temples. From January 1 last year till July this year, 102 cases of theft were reported in these temples, and idols and valuables worth Rs 1.12 crore were stolen. The state police has found no leads in 63 such cases and declared them untraced.
Last week, a 17th century idol of Lord Raghunath worth `24 lakh, along with three more antique idols, was stolen from Raghunathji Temple at Rupi Palace, Sultanpur, Kullu. Of these idols, Lord Ram’s and Lord Hanuman’s had been brought from Ayodhya to Kullu in 1651 during the reign of Raja Jagat Singh. The famous Kullu Dussehra is centred on Lord Raghunath who leads the procession of 300 deities brought in from the area. The state government has formed a Special Investigation Team and alerted the Interpol as well. A reward of `10 lakh has also been announced by the government for information leading to capture of the culprits. The thieves had struck at the temple in January too and stole the antique crown and 165 gm of gold and 41 kg of silver.
In another big theft on July 23, 2013, some 10 idols were stolen from Devta Sahib Bondra Temple in Banchhuchh village, Shimla. The three Nepalese accused were later arrested by Delhi Police. Another big theft was reported at Bhallai Mata Temple in Chamba last year.
Gold and silver worth `178 crore (gold worth `126.91 crore and silver worth `51.88 crore) is kept in 29 prominent government-controlled temples across the state. The Chintpurni Temple in Una district with 1.72 quintal of gold and 59 quintal of silver is the richest. Other rich temples include Naina Devi in Bilaspur (1.48 quintal of gold and 56 quintal of silver), Jwalamukhi, Brajeshwari Devi (37 kg silver and 28 kg of gold), Chamunda Devi in Kangra district (22 kg gold and two quintal silver), Baba Balak Nath in Hamirpur district (15 kg gold and five quintal silver) and Mahamaya Balasundari Temple in Sirmaur district (11 kg gold and 16 quintal silver). The other rich temple is Bhimakali in Shimla district. This wealth excludes cash donations made to these temples.
The state police have divided up the temples into three categories as per the religious significance (Category A—85 temples, Category B—158 and Category C—498). The prominent temples have been directed to install CCTV cameras, alarm systems, better lighting, lockers and maintain a record of visitors. Besides, in 41 ancient temples, home guard volunteers have been put on duty. Temple managements have been told to keep a vigil and employ more private security guards, said a source.
Himachal Pradesh DGP Sanjay Kumar said that an alert has been sounded and all district SPs have been asked to review the security arrangements of temples. State Revenue Minister Kaul Singh said the government will sign an agreement with the public sector Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation (MMTC) for purity check of 4.73 quintal of gold and 158.81 quintal of silver lying in the temples.
The state Language, Arts and Culture Department has now started making an inventory of ancient artefacts and has registered 10,000 ancient idols, rare paintings and artefacts, so far.