Thiruchitrambalam residents team up with Idol Wing ex-chief to retrieve 900-year-old stolen idol from US museum

TIRUCHY: Residents of Thiruchitrambalam in Thanjavur staged a protest and filed a complaint with the police on Monday to bring back the 900-year-old Sivakamasundari idol, which was reportedly stolen 50 years ago and currently displayed at a museum in the US.

The residents and the former Idol Wing IGP AG Pon Manickavel gathered before the Thiruchitrambalam police station. They claimed that the Sivakamasundari idol is in New York and is scheduled to be auctioned soon.

“Several idols from Sri Purathanavaneshwarar temple had gone missing. Currently, the idols of Kanthar, Amman and Natarajar are missing. Earlier, the Sivakamasundari idol went missing from the temple. We have the photo evidence of the idol taken in 1959, which is in a New York museum," said Pon Manickavel.

The former Idol Wing chief said the missing idol will be auctioned for Rs 10 crore soon. “We have complained to the police about the missing idol. He said that we would approach the court for legal proceedings if they failed to register a case," he said.

He added that the elected members and officials are not worried about the missing idols, so the people have come to the streets to fight to trace them and bring them back to their respective temples.