No proposal to replace Palani temple’s idol with panchaloha: Government

There is no proposal to remove the idol of Lord Muruga made of ‘navabashanam’  from the ‘moolavar sannidhi’ (sanctum sanctorum)  in the Sri Dhandayuthapani Murugan Temple in Palani and to replace it w

CHENNAI: There is no proposal to remove the idol of Lord Muruga made of ‘navabashanam’  from the ‘moolavar sannidhi’ (sanctum sanctorum)  in the Sri Dhandayuthapani Murugan Temple in Palani and to replace it with the idol made of panchaloha, the HR&CE has told the Madras High Court.
The HR&CE counsel told this to Justice T Raja when a writ petition from Sri Sivananda Pulipani Paathira Swamigal, came up on Monday.

The idol made of ‘navabashanam’  is safe in the ‘moolavar sannidhi’ and there is no plan to replace it with panchaloha idol, the council said. According to petitioner, there have been constant efforts from various quarters to replace the navabashanam idol with panchaloha idol since 1984 and the petitioner, a descendant of Bogar Siddhar, has been opposing it. 

Bogar had collected thousands of valuable medicinal herbs and mixed them together in the certain proportion and made them into an amalgam known as ‘navabashanam’. The idol had stood the time of test for well over 5,000 years from its installation, the petitioner said. Rumours were floated in 1984 that the idol had got damaged and should be replaced with a panchaloha idol. The effort was, however, thwarted by the petitioner and others. But the same issue was being raised every now and then, he added.

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