CHENNAI: Investigation into an idol missing case by the Idol Wing led the officers to the mystery of 11 more missing idols. Interestingly, the temple was unaware of this. While two idols were traced to the US, the search for the rest is on. The idols of Devi and Vinayagar were traced to Sotheby’s auction house in New York and Norton Simon Museum in California respectively.
Surprisingly, even the temple staff were unaware of the theft until the Idol Wing officers informed them. “The temple did not have a list of the missing idols in their records. As decades had passed, even devotees had no clue that these idols were missing from the temple,” said an investigating officer.
Recently, a watchman of the Arulmigu Pannaka Parameswara Swamy Temple at Pannatheru in Nagapattinam lodged a complaint that one Ganesha idol was stolen from the temple. During investigation, the police found no pictures of the idol and sought the help of the French Institute of Pondicherry, a research institute. The institute has a collection of 1,40,00 photographs of temples and idols in South India.
“We were shocked to realise that not just the Ganesha idol but 11 others were also stolen. They were stolen over a period of time 40 years ago,” said Jayanth Murali, DGP, Idol Wing. The idols were identified as Somaskandar, Chandrasekhara Amman, Devi, Astiradevar, Pidari Amman, Navagraha Surya, Boghasakthiamman, Dancing Sambandhar, Chandrasekhar with Chandrasekhar Amman, Standing Chandrasekhar Standing and Vinayakar.
As per the investigation, the temple had three idols of Lord Ganesha, and of them, one was still with the temple. Of the two stolen Ganesha idols, one has been traced to Norton Simon Museum in the US and the other is yet to be traced, he said.
An idol of Goddess Devi, which also went missing 40 years ago, has been traced to Sotheby’s Auction House in New York. “The Idol Wing has completed the preparation of legal documents for retrieving both the traced idols and will be submitting the same soon,” he said in a statement here.
The Devi idol was traced to the Indian and Southeast Asian Works of Art, New York. The museum acquired the 48.3 cm tall idol between 1970 and 1973. Sotheby’s had recently sold it for USD 50,000 (Rs 39,98,575).
The Vinayagar idol measuring about 1.5 feet tall and 1 foot wide, is exquisitely carved and is reported to be worth over Rs 3 crore in the international market. The Idol Wing has prepared papers of request to the US for sending back the antique bronze idols of Devi and Ganesha under the agreement between the Government of India and the US concerning Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.