Court orders antique idol to be kept in safe custody in temple

: A court in this district today ordered that an antique idol,one of two allegedly stolen from temples in Tamil Nadu, sold to art galleries in Australia and handed over to India on September 11, be transported to the Nageswara temple in Kumbakonam and kept in safe custody.
Chief Judicial Magistrate of the court at Virudhachalam, Sathik Basha, ordered that the idol of Ardhanariswara be taken in a police vehicle to that temple and moved to a safe room.
He then adjourned the case to October 2.
The other idol of Nataraja will be produced in a court at Ariyalur later this evening.

Ashok Natarajan, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Idol Wing) told reporters that the French Institute in Puducherry had documented the Ardhanariswara idol in 1974.
"This meant the sculpture should have been stolen at a later date. There seems to be no record with Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department about the missing idol and they were not aware of the theft till the smugglers confessed to having stolen it," he said.

The DSP said the case was filed based on a news report.
Cuddalore District Collector S Suresh Kumar said the administration would lay claim to the Ardhanraiswara idol and embed it near the sanctum sanctums of the Vridhagireeswarar temple at Virudhachalam, from where it was stolen.

On Sept 11, both idols were handed over by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the former's India visit in the preceding week.
They were brought to Chennai by a government carrier from Delhi and later taken to Archaeological Survey of India office.
Both statues were allegedly stolen from temples in Tamil Nadu and their return was sought by India in March.
The Nataraja idol, dating to Chola dynasty of 11th-12th century, was purchased by the National Gallery of Australia in February 2008 for USD 5.1 million from art and antiquities dealer Subhash Kapoor who was then based in New York.

Ardhanariswara,representing Shiva in half-female form dates to the 10th century, was sold to the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2004 for about 300,000 Australian Dollars (USD 280,979).
Kapoor, owner of "Art of the Past" gallery in New York, was arrested in Germany and extradited to India in 2012.
He is accused of conspiracy to commit burglary and smuggling from the state antique idols of Hindu deities.
In March, the External Affairs Ministry had through India's High Commission in Canberra made a formal proposal to the Australian Department of Attorney General by forwarding Tamil Nadu police request for return of the idols.