Idols stolen from Tamil Nadu traced to US museums
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Three bronze idols stolen from the Soundararaja Perumalkovil village temple near Kumbakonam were traced to museums and auction houses in the US. The idols went missing 60 years ago.
The Kalinganarathna Krishna idol was traced to Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, the Vishnu idol to Kimbell Art Museum in Texas, and the Sridevi idol to Hills Auction Gallery in Florida.
One of the sacred items was an antique idol of Thirumangai Alwar. Ka Raja, Executive Officer of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department, lodged a complaint with the Idol Wing of Tamil Nadu police in February, 2020.
The complaint said that the idol is believed to have been stolen between 1957 and 1967. It was replaced with a fake one.
The Idol Wing investigating officer consulted the French Institute of Pondicherry (FIP) regarding the images of Kalinganarathna Krishna, Vishnu, and Sridevi. It was found that the idols shifted to the Icon Centre for safekeeping were fake. This confirmed suspicion that the original idols were stolen.
The police have now traced it to the Ashmolean museum in Oxford. The museum bought the idol at an auction by Sotheby's in London for 850 pounds from collector J.R. Belmont. The Sridevi idol was auctioned by Hills Auction Gallery.
The Tamil Nadu police wing has taken necessary steps to recover the idols. The department aims to return them to the Soundararaja Perumal temple, said DGP K Jayanth Murali.
