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Tamil Nadu Police Idol Wing CID has recovered two stolen antique idols – Yoganarasimha and Ganesha – belonging to Alathur Venugopala Swamy Temple, Tiruvarur District to Nelson – Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, USA – Suspected stolen. fifty years ago and replaced with replicas.
In 2017, S. Nagarajan, superintendent of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Foundation, Mannargudi, lodged a complaint at the Vikrapandiyam Police Station, Thiruvarur district, against the burglary of three antique metal idols of Vishnu, Sridevi and Bhudevi, which belonged to Venugopala Swamy Templegopala Swamy. Viswanatha Swamy Temple in the same village for safe custody. He further stated that some of the remaining idols have been handed over to the Thiruvarur Icon Center for safe keeping.
He demanded the recovery of antique metal idols of Vishnu, Sridevi and Bhudevi, which were stolen around 50 years ago. Based on his complaint, a case was registered at the Vikrapandiyam police station, and the Idol Wing CID started an investigation into the matter.
Police traced three antique idols — Vishnu, Sridevi and Bhoodevi belonging to the Venugopala Swamy temple — to the LACMA Museum in Los Angeles. It was at this point that Officer Nagarajan, who had handed over the custody of the remaining idols of the Venugopala Swamy Temple to the Tiruvarur Icon Centre, became suspicious about their status.
Investigation revealed that the six idols – Yoganarasimha, Ganesha, Dancing Krishna, Dancing Sambanthar, Somaskandar and Standing Vishnu – kept at the icon center were found to be fake.
The Idol Wing CID of the Tamil Nadu Police has recovered two stolen antique idols of Yoganarasimha and Ganesha from the Venugopala Swamy Temple at Alathur in Tiruvarur district and the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Missouri, Kansas City, USA. Photo credit: Special Agreement
As no pictures of the original idols were available either with the temple authorities or in other records, the idol wing decided to check whether any photographs or documents were available with the French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP).
Idol Wing CID Director General of Police K. Jayanth Murali said, “After receiving the pictures from the IFP, we started searching for idols similar to the pictures on the websites of various museums around the world. During our search, we came across some photos of the Yoganarasimha and Ganesha-like idols belonging to the Venugopala Swamy Temple, displayed in the galleries of the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas. The experts also confirmed it.”
According to the police, the six idols were stealthily removed from the temple around 50 years ago and replaced with replicas which are now housed at the Tiruvarur Icon Centre. The IFP photos were taken in 1959 and the Venugopala Swamy Temple came under HR&CE control in 1975.
Read more | TN Idol Wing claims ownership of Kala Samhara Moorthy idol auctioned in US
The Idol wing prepared and submitted the ownership documents of the two idols to the government to be forwarded to the US for repatriation to Tamil Nadu.
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