Museum in Oxford to return stolen Thirumangai Alwar idol purchased by it in 1967: T.N. police

A rare variant bronze statue of saint-poet Thirumangai Alwar, worth several crores of rupees, will be repatriated from Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, to Tamil Nadu, after it was found that it was stolen from a temple in the State between 1957 and 1967, the Idol Wing CID (IWCID) of the Tamil Nadu Police said.

A rare variant bronze statue of saint-poet Thirumangai Alwar, worth several crores of rupees, will be repatriated from Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, to Tamil Nadu, after it was found that it was stolen from a temple in the State between 1957 and 1967, the Idol Wing CID (IWCID) of the Tamil Nadu Police said.

Efforts are on to bring the statue back to the State with the help of the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) and other offices, the IWCID added.

In 2020, the special wing of the police registered a case based on specific information that four valuable antique idols were allegedly stolen from the Soundararaja Perumal Temple in Kumbakonam between 1957 and 1967.

The police found that the Thirumangai Alwar bronze idol and three other metal idols — namely, Kaalinga Nartha Krishnar, Vishnu, and Sridevi idols — were stolen, and the replicas were displayed and worshipped in place of the originals. The idols were illegally sold by unidentified traffickers and smuggled abroad, said the police.

Thirumangai Alvar was born in the 8th century and was the last of the 12 Alvar saints of South India known for their affiliation with the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism.

Inspector General of Police, IWCID, R. Dhinakaran, said through their sustained efforts, the smuggled idols were traced to various museums abroad. Specifically, the Thirumangai Alwar bronze idol was found to have been purchased by the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, the United Kingdom, in 1967. The Kaalinga Nartha Krishnar, Vishnu, and Sridevi idols, meanwhile, were located in various museums across the United States of America, he added.

He said the investigation also revealed that at present, only the replicas of these four idols were being used for worship at the Soundararaja Perumal Temple, while the original idols remain in museums abroad. These findings led to ongoing efforts by the IWCID to repatriate the stolen idols to India, ensuring that they return to their rightful place of worship, he said.