3 metal idols stolen from 7th-century Thanjavur temple

TIRUCHY: Miscreants decamped with three metal idols from the 7th Century Purathanavaneshwarar temple near Pattukkottai in Thanjavur on Friday and the police registered a case and are searching for the culprits.

It is said, the HR&CE-controlled Periyanayagi Ambal Sameda Purathanavaneswarar temple located at Thiruchitrambalamam village near Pattukkottai in Thanjavur has been constructed in the 7th century for which the historical evidence including inscriptions is available in the temple. The panchaloha idols belonging to the temple are kept in the strong room in Tiruvarur.

Still, the temple sponsors donated metal idols of Natarajar, Ambal and Somaskanthar in 2001 and they were placed in the Natarajar sannidhi and the devotees continued to worship them since then. However, these idols were not recorded in the HR&CE documents, it is said.

With a cyclone warning issued on Thursday, the people have kept themselves indoors and no people movement was witnessed in the location. Making advantage of the situation, miscreants reportedly entered the temple via the back compound wall and escaped with a four-foot Amman idol in a sitting posture, one-foot Somaskanthar and one-foot Natarajar.

One of the idols that was stolen.

On Friday, when the temple priests and staff opened the main doors of the temple they were shocked to find the idols had gone missing. Soon they passed on the information to Thiruchitrambalamam police and the HR&CE officials who rushed to the temple and conducted an investigation. The officials found that the miscreants had snapped the CCTV camera lines.

Subsequently, HR&CE executive officer Ravichandran, Inspector Amutha, and Pattukkottai DSP Prithviraj Chauhan conducted an inquiry with the temple staff.

Later, fingerprint expert Amala conducted investigation. Sniffer dog Toughy was also brought for investigation.