The Idol Wing CID is probing the case of a missing 10th century idol from Egmore Museum in the city.
The stone idol of Maheshamurthi is from Thirumalacheri near Kaveripakkam. This Maheshamurthi, dating back to the 10th century, is said to belong to the Rashtrakuta King Krishna III period, when he ruled the Chola kingdom ( around 960 CE). It was in an open ground when photographed by renowned scholar Gopinath Rao in 1914. The sculpture was photographed and studied in the same place till 1990.
It went missing in 1995 and was traced to a godown in Pallavaram during a raid by Idol wing in 1996. It was being prepared to be smuggled abroad under the guise of garden furniture. A case was filed against a village president who claimed to have purchased the idol. The idol was seized and brought to the Madras museum for safe keeping while the case was going on in court.
The idol was photographed by various persons, including an eminent archaeologist who has published the photo in his 2006 book, when it was still in the museum.
Sources in the Idol Wing CID confirmed that the matter was taken up for investigation.
“That such an important sculpture linked to Rashtrakuta ruler Krishna III who fought the Cholas in the famous Thakkolam battle, can be lost from a secure museum is shocking. This was clearly a documented public antiquity of great historical significance,” said S.Vijay Kumar, art enthusiast and founder of India Pride.
