Fifty years after the idols of Raja Raja Chola-1 and his consort Lokamadevi went missing from the Big Temple, the Tamil Nadu Idol Wing registers a case for probe
Venkatesan TS
The probe into the missing of statues of king of Chola Dynasty Raja Raja Chozha-I and his royal consort Lokamadevi from the famous Thanjavur Big Temple led to the opening of Pandoras box with the officials saying that at least 11 more antique idols and statues have gone missing.
Ancient bronze icons of Emperor Raja Raja Chozha-I and Lokamadevi, donated to the Big Temple by Chieftain of Kodumbalur during the 29th Regnal year of the Emperor, were stolen at least 50 years ago and they finally found their way to the Ahmedabad museum.
Like searching a needle in the haystack, the Idol Wing of Tamil Nadu police preferred filling a complaint that two ancient bronze icons of Raja Raja Chozha-I and his royal consort Lokamadevi have been stolen from the world-famous Sri Brihadeeswarar Temple (Big Temple). After the preliminary inquiry, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Idol Wing, Venkatraman, filed the complaint with the Thanjavur West police station on March 2, alleging that the two invaluable bronze icons had “somehow been stolen” from the treasure houses of the Big Temple and were now at the Calico Museum and the Sarabhai Foundation Galleries, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Police said the four Panchaloha idols donated by Kundhavai to the Temple were missing. Same was the case with two idols of Umamaheswari, statues of Vanavan Mahadevi and Pon Maaligai Thunjinathevar. It is alleged that some of the priests in the temple had informed that some of the antique idols and statues had been replaced with new ones. Sources in the Idol Wing said following a petition by former Minister VV Swaminathan, the Madras High Court directed the Idol Wing to look into the case of missing ancient bronze idols.
The case assumes historical importance as there is no evidence of the presence of any statue of Emperor Raja Raja Chozha-I, sculptured during his own lifetime, other than the one in Ahmedabad museum. As part of investigation, the police made enquiries with historians, epigraphists and archaeologists of Thanjavur. Pon Manickavel told reporters that “preliminary investigation revealed the theft of 13 idols and statues worth several crores of rupees”.
Raja Raja Chozhan, knowing his days were numbered, had asked his officials to list all the idols and other valuables donated by the kingdom and make inscriptions in stones so that it would help the coming generations to know about it. With the reading of the stone inscriptions recently by researchers, police came to know of the missing statues. That is how the probe started
Commenting on it, Hindu Munnani functionary Ganesan said: “For us it was not a surprise. The state has to bear with this for choosing rationalist Dravidian parties as their rulers. Almost all the temple boards have been packed with its cadres who do not believe in God and traditions. The officials too belong to that genre. Their only aim is to swindle temple offerings from the devotees, loot the temple treasures, indulge in misappropriation, sell temple assets at a throw away price without accounting them by forging documents. Several rare ancient idols were sold to international mafia for a small price. Now the Raja Raja Chozha and his wife’s idols are missing. They found it now only that they were gone. It shows how serious they are in protecting the temple properties. Officials and rulers become wealthier, but the temples become pauper. It is the Dravidian legacy that we have been forced to inherit.” n
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