Picture of stolen Thirumangai Alwar idol matches one in London museum

Trichy: In a significant development, the idol wing CID has confirmed the accurate match of the picture of the stolen antique metal idol of Thirumangai Alwar of Soundararaja Perumal temple in Kumbakonam with that of the same idol in a London museum.

Acting on a complaint from the executive officer of the temple in Sundaraperumal Kovil village in Kumbakonam taluk, idol wing CID registered a case that a metal idol of Thirumangai Alwar in the temple had gone missing from here between 1957 and 1967. As part of the investigation, the idol wing CID team led by the investigation officer and DSP, P Chandrasekaran, got information that the picture of Thirumangai Alwar idol identical to the one stolen from Soundararaja Perumal has been kept at Ashmolean Museum in London. The idol wing in a press statement said the documented picture of Thirumangai Alwar idol matched 100 % with that of the idol in the museum.

The wing also said that efforts are being made to arrest the accused behind the idol theft and to bring back the idol. Singapore-based blogger Vijay Kumar Sundaresan said that French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP) should be thanked for making available the archives that helped them once again crack these difficult cases which were closed in the 1960s and 1970s as untraceable. “We also thank the support of the idol wing in actively pursuing our leads and reopening the old cases,” he said.