TN chief sculptor arrested in Palani Murugan idol case

In 2004, the then newly-sculpted "panchaloha" idol of Lord Murugan in the famous Sri Dandayuthapaniswamy Temple on the Palani hills was placed next to the 3,000-year-old navabashana idol, to replace the latter since it was "wearing away".

However, within a couple of months, the new idol, was removed and shifted to a strong room of the temple, where it is lying since then.

Fourteen years later, officials now suspect that the new idol was sculpted only to "smuggle" the centuries-old navabashana idol to a foreign land and possibly sell it to an art gallery to rake in crores of rupees, after moving it from the sanctum sanctorum.

The idol wing of the Tamil Nadu Police on Sunday arrested Padma Shri awardee M Muthiah Sthapathi, chief sculptor of the government, and K K Raja, the then executive officer of the Palani Temple, for causing a loss of Rs 1.31 crore in making the statue.

Spoiling the plans, the new idol was removed since it began turning dark and till date, all poojas and abhishekams are being performed only on the navabashana idol after it was restored to its original status, sources in the idol wing told DH.

The idol turning dark and weighing more than the original measure of 200 kg, including 10 kilos of gold led to doubts whether it was sculpted by using required quantities of metals.

The new idol, that was made at a cost of Rs 65 lakh in 2003-2004, actually weighs 221.08 kg and has been found to have been sculpted without specified quantities of the five metals, including gold, during an inspection by an expert team from IIT-Madras in January this year.

"First of all, Muthiah does not have any experience in sculpting panchaloka idols. He is a stone sculptor and it is being investigated on who actually gave the job to him. We are also investigating on how Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department agreed to clear the statue to be installed in the temple when it weighed more than 200 kg," a senior officer attached to the idol wing told DH.

The IIT-Madras was roped in to inspect the statue after the idol wing began inspecting idols in temples across the state.

The idol wing police also suspect that Muthiah might have stolen some of the gold that was meant for sculpting the idol.

It is also investigating on who actually ordered sculpting of the new idol since no records are available with the Temple authorities on the issue.

Temple authorities had then attributed the removal to complaints from devotees that they were not able to have head-to-toe darshan of the old idol, made of nine minerals and herbs.

Devotees also objected to two idols of Lord Murugan at the sanctum sanctorum of temple arguing that it was against agama rules of Hinduism.