Special police party to bust theft of ‘kalasams’ at ancient temple

The police have arrested six persons and busted an attempt to steal the holy ‘kalasams’ from the ‘rajagopuram’ of the historical rock-cut temple dedicated to Lord Kuduminathar at Kudumiyanmalai near Annavasal in the district.

The culprits had attempted to commit the theft with the motive of selling it to a broker for smuggling to foreign countries. The temple, which is considered the origin for the fundamental notes of Carnatic music, has been under the maintenance of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Addressing presspersons here on Tuesday, P. Moorthy, Superintendent of Police, said that a special party has been formed to check similar attempts at the ancient abodes in the district. Interrogation revealed that a number of similar ‘gangs’ operated in various villages in the district which accounted for a large number of ancient abodes. They adopted a mix of scientific and superstitious technique to persuade the local villagers to get the ‘kalasam’.

The scientific technique, Mr. Moorthy said, involved what is known as ’rice-pulling’ experiment. The miscreants, who possessed a ’kalasam’ said to be have been stolen from another temple, injected magnetic nails into wet rice. After a few hours, when the rice dried up, they kept the ‘kalasam’ near the rice. The rice with magnetic nails in it, were drawn towards the ‘kalasam’.

“But, the miscreants attributed the attraction caused by the magnetic field to the divine and supreme power of the ‘kalasam’, pestering the villagers to commit the theft of the ‘kalasam’ at the local temple.

G. Kaliayamoorthy, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Annavasal, who leads the special team says it was still a mystery as who purchased the ‘kalasam’. The ‘business’ has witnessed a mushroom growth of brokers. “Each major village had at least five brokers.”

The sale price registered a steep hike, as the ‘kalasam’ passed from one broker to another. The objective was on exploitation. The ‘kalasam’ was rated at several lakhs of rupees.

Mr. Moorthy appealed to the members of the public not to extend any assistance to the brokers in stealing the ‘kalasam’. He appealed to the people to immediately inform Mr. Kaliyamoorthy by dialling 98427-64762 or M. Pugazhenthi, Inspector of Police, Annavasal by dialling 99422-12342.

He gave the names of those arrested at Kudumiyanmalai as R. Selvaraj (56); M. Shanmugam (26); R. Senthilkumar (30); M. Sudhakar (24) and M. Raja (27) - all of Thanjavur district and P. Ayyappan (29) of Pudukottai district.