The Tamil Nadu Idol Wing has traced three idols stolen from the state to the auction houses Christie's, Sotheby's, and another location in Manhattan, United States. It also initiated steps to retrieve them, Director General of Police (DGP) K Jayanth Murali said on Friday, December 30. Steps have been initiated to bring back an idol of the Buddha seized from the international idol smuggler Subhash Kapoor's gallery in New York by the district attorney's office in Manhattan and now available in their warehouse. The other two are a bronze idol of Lord Nataraja and an idol of Alingana Murthy. Papers will be submitted to bring the Buddha idol in a week's time to Tamil Nadu and have it reinstalled at its original place at Arapakkam in Kancheepuram district, Murali said.
The Idol Wing came across an auction notice issued by Christies.com, France, listing a bronze idol of Lord Nataraja for sale on December 16 for a bid price of 2,00,000 to 3,00,000 Euros, and immediately took up the issue. The idol was stolen in 1972 from Sri Akilandeswari Sametha Kothandarameshwar temple, Kayathar, Kovilpatti, in Thoothukudi district, according to the police. "As there was adequate proof to establish ownership of the idol, the authorities in India and abroad were alerted to stop the auction. The DGP also put out a tweet and personally contacted the Indian Ambassador to France Jawed Ashraf over phone," a release said. The Idol Wing hopes to retrieve the idol and restore it to the Akilandeswari Sametha Kothandarameshwar temple soon.
The idol of Alingana Murthy (Chandrasekhar and his wife Chandrasekhar Amman) was stolen from Sri Tolisvarar temple Kovilpalayam, Kunnam taluk, Perambalur district. The Idol Wing, which stumbled on a catalog of Sotheby's, found that the idol was sold on March 26, 1998 for USD 85,000. The Idol Wing said that it has established ample evidence that the idol auctioned by Sotheby's was stolen from Sri Tolisvarar temple. It would soon submit relevant documents to the United States government to identify the collector who purchased the idol from Sotheby's, confiscate and return the idol to India, the release said.