TN stakes claim over rare idol from Chola period auctioned in US

Chennai, Sep 22: The Tamil Nadu Idol Wing CID has sent legal papers establishing the state's ownership over the Kala Samhara Moorthy idol auctioned at Christie's, USA, the Wing said on Thursday.

This rare and magnificent bronze idol of Shiva Tripuravijaya dates back to the Chola period Circa 1050. He is seen standing triumphantly with one foot on the back of a prostrate dwarf lifted up on a rectangular plinth, the body carried in a nimble Tribhanga pose and clad in a brief dhoti and decorated with various jewellery.

Documents establishing the legal ownership of Tamil Nadu over the bronze idol of Kala Samhara Moorthy, also known as Tripurantaka Murthy, stolen about 50 years ago from Sri Kasi Viswanatha Swamy temple, Muthammal Puram village, Orathanadu in Thanjavur district, by replacing it with a fake one, has been sent, the wing said.

The 82.3 cm long stolen idol was traced to Christies.com. According to the website, the price realised for the stolen idol was USD 4,350,000, DGP K Jayanth Murali said. The theft came to light on November 6, 2020, when G Suresh, Executive Officer of the Sri Kasi Viswanatha Swamy temple, preferred a complaint with the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Idol Wing CID, Chennai, stating that the antique metal idol of the Lord was stolen. He further said the original idol was replaced by a fake some 50 years ago.

After the case was registered, U Muthuraja, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Idol Wing CID, Kumbakonam, approached the French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP) and sought images of the idols taken and documented by them in the past.

After obtaining pictures of the idols, the wing formed teams to search for the idols worldwide in museums / art galleries, auction houses and brochures of private collectors. Following an extensive search, the Idol Wing located an idol appearing similar to the missing idol on the website of Christie's, the auction company, an official release here said.

"Muthuraja downloaded the photo image of Kala Samhara Moorthy from the website of Christie's and sent it along with the photo off the fake idol available at the temple, to an antiquarian for an expert comparison report.

The antiquarian confirmed that both the photo images of Kala Samhara Moorthy taken by IFP Pondicherry and the image of the idol downloaded from the website of Christies were the same and that the metal image now kept in the temple was fake.

"Given the indisputable facts, the Idol Wing CID was duty bound to take necessary steps for the retrieval of the antique idol," the release said. Hence, the wing prepared and submitted legal papers of request to the USA for repatriation of the Kala Samhara Moorthy idol, currently, in the USA, under the existing agreement between India and the USA concerning Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.