3 more TN antique idols, stolen 60 yrs ago, traced to USA

CHENNAI: More than two years after the Idol Wing stumbled upon information about the stolen antique idol of Thirumangai Alwar belonging to Soundararajaperumal Temple, Sundara Perumalkovil village in Kumbakonam and replaced it with fake idol, investigation has further revealed that three more antique idols of - Kalinganarthana Krishnan, Vishnu and Sridevi - belonging to the same temple were also stolen and replaced by fake replicas in their place without anybody's knowledge nearly sixty years ago.

Now, the idol of Kalinganarthana Krishna has been traced to Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA, idol of Vishnu to Kimbell Art Museum, Texas, USA and idol of Sridevi to Hills Auction Gallery, Florida, USA, a press release from Idol Wing said on Thursday.

The sleuths had earlier traced the idol of Thirumangai Alwar to Ashmolean museum in Oxford, London.

"The theft of the original idol of Thirumangai Alwar from the Soundararaja Perumal Temple by replacing it with a fake idol raised the suspicion of the Idol Wing concerning the other idols at the temple. The wing, therefore, decided to investigate the other idols of the temple as well,” noted DGP Jayanth Murali, heading Idol Wing.

Idol Wing has started the process to bring back the idol via diplomatic channels.