TN Idol Wing Traces Stolen Dancing Krishna Idol To US Museum

The idol wing police commenced an investigation on receiving a complaint from G. Narayani, Executive Officer, HR&CE department on November 22, 2022.

Idol (File photo)

Chennai: The idol wing of the Tamil Nadu police has traced a dancing Krishna idol, stolen from a a Tamil Nadu temple 56 years ago, to a museum in the US.

Director General of Tamil Nadu idol wing police, Jayanth Murali in a statement said that the idol was traced at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana, the US. The idol which was stolen from Ekantha Ramaswamy temple, Thangachimadam village, Rameswaram.

The idol wing police commenced an investigation on receiving a complaint from G. Narayani, Executive Officer, HR&CE department on November 22, 2022.

In the complaint, the executive officer stated that three or more idols, including an antique Krishna Idol belonging to the temple, were burgled in 1966.

The executive officer requested the Tamil Nadu idol wing to conduct an investigation and retrieve the idols back to the temple.

Unfortunately, the investigating officers of the idol wing of the Tamil Nadu police could not find any pictures of the antique Sri Krishna idol and the police sent a request to the French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP) to provide any images it had in its photo records from the Ekanthaswami temple.

The French Institute of Puducherry, according to the statement from the idol wing, sent six digital images from their photo archives and found the dancing Krishna idol.

The idol wing while combing through various websites of museums and galleries, found the idol of Dancing Krishna similar to the IFP photo displayed on the website of the Indianapolis museum, Indiana, the US. The photo was downloaded and sent along with IFP photo to an expert for comparison, who concluded that the two photographs are of one and the same idol.

The idol wing then prepared documentary proof and claimed ownership of the Dancing Krishna idol.

The police would soon be filing a detailed report to the US for retrieving the idol and restoring it to Ekantha Ramaswamy temple.