How Tamil Nadu is tracing idols stolen from temples decades ago

Fifty-one years ago, a copper-alloy idol of Goddess Parvathi belonging to the glorious Chola period was stolen from a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu’s Cauvery Delta region. The idol, valued at about Rs 1.70 crore, has now been traced to an auction house in New York in the US by the Idol Wing of Tamil Nadu police.

Not just the Parvathi idol, but tens of such artistic marvels produced during the rule of various kingdoms that ruled modern-day Tamil Nadu and were stolen are being located in various auction houses and private collections through the use of technology by the Idol Wing. After establishing that idols displayed at various places are indeed the ones stolen from temples in the state with validation from experts here, the Idol Wing launches the process to get them back through the Ministry of External Affairs.

Since 2019, the Idol Wing has recovered as many as 338 idols stolen from various temples in the state. The year 2022 tops the list with 156 idols being recovered till July 31 – on Wednesday, the Idol Wing initiated steps to bring another six idols which have been located to the US.

The Idol Wing goes through several documents and consults experts to ensure that the stolen idols match with those found in auction houses or private collections across the globe.

“We use technology to recover these stolen idols. The first thing we do after getting a complaint is to check whether the stolen idols are part of any globally-renowned auction house. We go to the website of every auction house and look for idols. We also keep a tab on private collections of people abroad. Auction houses and private individuals put out the list on their websites,” Jayanth Murali, AGDP, Idol Wing CID, told DH.

“If we get any clue or find the stolen idols, we then seek an expert opinion from well-known archaeologist K Sridharan. Once the opinion is in favour of us, we move through the proper channels (MEA) to get the idol back to India under an UNESCO treaty,” he said.

Locating the Parvathi idol lost in 1971 was particularly difficult as none of the major auction houses like Christie’s had it in their catalogue – getting a picture of the idol itself was a herculean task as the temple did not have one, but it was clear that the statue belonged to it.

Murali said a black and white picture of the Parvathi idol was found in the archives of the French Institute of Pondicherry (FIP) after which efforts to locate it were fast-tracked. “Our teams spent days going through websites of auction houses across the globe to locate the Parvathi idol but none had them. Finally, we were able to locate it at Bonhams auction house in New York. Sridharan, the expert whom we consult, certified that the picture found at FIP matches with the idol found in the auction house,” he said.