Chennai (The Hawk): A 500-year-old stolen state idol was about to be sold at auction when the French auction house Christies was quickly stopped by the DGP of the Tamil Nadu Idol Wing, Jayanth Murali.
When the elite idol wing DGP learned that the idol was being auctioned off for between Euro 2,000 and Euro 3,000 (about Rs 1.76 to Rs 2.64 crore), he tweeted, "STOP AUCTION, Return it to us This is stolen from India, TN."
Jayanth Murali also mentioned the Archeological Survey of India and the "Antiquities Coalition," which conducts an international fight against cultural racketeering (ASI).
As soon as the state administration received word from the police, it was relayed to the Union Home ministry, which raised the matter with the French government through the Indian embassy in Paris.
According to the Director General of Police of States (DGP), the Idol wing initiated communication through diplomatic channels to thwart the auction.
Nataraja, a 500-year-old idol, was taken in 1972 from Kayathar's Sri Kothanda Rameswara Temple in the Thoothukudi district.
According to the experts of the Archeological Survey of India, the bronze idol dates to the Vijayanagara era (15th to 16th century)
After discovering that the idol was being auctioned, the idol wing officials double-checked the pictures of idols at the Indo-French Institute in Puducherry and discovered that the pictures of the stolen idol and those on the records of the institute were similar.
It was determined that the stolen Nataraja idol and the one that was being offered for sale were identical, according to a senior officer of the Tamil Nadu idol wing who spoke to IANS. After this discovery, the Tamil Nadu government informed the Union Home Ministry and pursued the case further.
(Inputs from Agencies)
