300-year old idols of Mariamman, Nataraja seized in Chennai

These idols were found in the illegal possession of a person who was clueless about their origin. The person, living in a house in Anna Nagar here could not produce papers pertaining to the origin of the idols, the police said.

"The idols have markings and slots for fixing them on temple palanquins to be carried in a procession during festivals. Hence, they are indisputably temple idols," K Jayanth Murali, DGP of Idol Wing CID, said. (Twitter/@JayanthMurali)

Exquisitely carved bronze idols of Goddess Mariamman and Nataraja, said to be 300-years old, were recovered from a city resident on Tuesday, the Tamil Nadu Idol Wing CID said.

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These idols were found in the illegal possession of a person who was clueless about their origin. The person, living in a house in Anna Nagar here could not produce papers pertaining to the origin of the idols, the police said.

Kudos to my team 💐! That unearthed two #idols, a #Mariamman and a dancing #Nataraja in a search operation at Annanagar, CNI. @tnpoliceoffl, @CMOTamilnadu @mkstalin @TNDIPRNEWS, #culture, #Police #IPS #TNPolice pic.twitter.com/nCzKbZ2uZR

— Jayanth Murali IPS, DGP, Author of “42 Mondays” (@jayantmuraliips) August 30, 2022

“The idols have markings and slots for fixing them on temple palanquins to be carried in a procession during festivals. Hence, they are indisputably temple idols,” K Jayanth Murali, DGP of Idol Wing CID, said.

These antique idols probably stolen from temples and sold without proper documents amount to illegal possession liable for confiscation. Therefore, the Idol Wing seized the idols in the presence of legal witnesses on August 29, he said in a release.

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Idol Wing superintendent of police P Ravi raided a residence in the city following a tip-off. DSP Muthu Raja and Inspectors Ravindran and Vasanthi were also part of the team.

The search was carried out under the instruction of Jayanth Murali and IGP R Dhinakaran. Investigation is underway to trace the temples from where the idols were stolen

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Tamil Nadu