Chennai: Panchaloha Nataraja Idol which was stolen from Kulashekara Mudaiyar Temple, Kallidaikurichi in Tirunelveli, was safely brought back from Australia via New Delhi on Thursday evening. The idol is said to be worth Rs 30 crore.
The international idol smugglers have stolen the idol 37 years ago and a case was filed in 1982 but the police officials couldn’t locate the idol. It was sold to the Australian government and it was kept in a museum. When Idol Wing, IG Pon Manickavel, started the investigation of the stolen Nataraja idol, it was traced to Australia.
Police officials contacted the Australian government via legal channels and visited the the museum. They recovered the ancient idol from the museum registrars James Bennet and Jane Robinson. They facilitated the return of ancient statue which is reportedly 700 hundred years old.
The idol was flown to New Delhi and from there it reached Chennai Central Station on Thursday evening. The public and devotees welcomed the return of statue in the railway station. After a small pooja, a grand aarti was performed
Speaking to reporters, Pon Manickavel said, “We have worked for over two years to recover the statue and it all happened due to Madras High Court’s intervention. Stolen idols travelled to various places and we are investigating the case.”
He added that many idols are yet to be recovered and if permissions are granted, we would recover more statues, which are in Singapore and USA. “To recover them, we have spent our own money for travelling. We also informed the Tamilnadu government about the recovery,” said Manickavel. He also thanked everyone who supported the initiative.