Many antique idols at Thanjavur Big Temple “missing or fake”

A team from the Archaeological Survey of India studying the idols at the Big Temple in Thanjavur recently.

Many rare 11th century bronze idols in the more than 1000-year-old Brahadeeswara Temple in Thanjavur, popularly known as the Big Temple, in Tamil Nadu could either be “missing” or “non-antique,” a euphemism for fake.

The Idol Wing of the Economic Offences unit of the CB-CID Police of Tamil Nadu, led by its IG of Police Pon. Manickavel came to this conclusion on the basis of its study of Tamil inscriptions on the stone walls and “vimana” (tower above the sanctum sanctorum) of the temple, which it then matched with the “historically dated” idols kept in the temple premises.

The Pon. Manickavel-led Idol Wing has been pursuing idol theft cases in the State since 2012, and the recovery of two icons of Raja Raja Chola (who built the Big Temple) and Lokamadevi in Ahmedabad this year brought the investigators to Thanjavur. “After restoring to the temple the two priceless icons of Raja Raja Chola, and his royal consort Lokamadevi from a private museum in Ahmedabad, we have decided to verify all other idols that are kept in the temple's custody today,” a senior officer with the Idol Wing told Frontline .

“Every detail about the temple’s physiological features was recorded as inscription in the temple. Hence we have been verifying the copied transcripts of those stone inscriptions and other supporting materials, including documents, past and present, to ascertain the fate of the bronze and other icons that were donated by the king, his family and public to the temple,” the officer said.

The investigation, he added, did not rule out the possibility that the rare icons had either been replaced or stolen. “We are not ruling out the possibility that this could have happened at various periods in the existence of the temple. However, the documents on the idols kept in the temple do not vouchsafe the antiquity of the idols. While many idols that have been recorded in stone inscriptions in the temple are missing, those that remain could be replicas that took the place of the originals during later periods,” the officer pointed out. “Even a majestic gold icon and four silver idols are missing from the temple,” he said.

The temple inventory should have 66 “historically dated idols” as per the inscriptions. R. Nagaswamy, former Director, Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department, in an interview to media, said that King Raja Rajan had, in stone inscriptions, specifically mentioned that he built this all-stone temple called “kattali” (“kal” meaning stone and “tali” a temple). The king’s inscription, running to 107 paragraphs, details the plan of the temple, the gifts he, his sister Kundavai, his queens and others gifted to the temple. It includes 66 bronze idols. “Even the measurements of these bronzes—from crown to toe, the number of arms they had and the symbols they held—are inscribed,” he said. Unfortunately, many have disappeared today.

The official pointed out that of the 66 historically dated idols, only 57 were recorded, and of them only 41 are found to be on the temple’s records today. “Most of the 41 are suspected to be fake, replaced with similar images,” he said. Among the historically recorded images, the missing ones include an idol of Kolgai Thevar in gold, weighing 83 “kalanju” (weight measurement of that era, equivalent to 1.77 gm), and four silver idols.

Sleuths of the Idol Wing claimed that barring one huge Panchaloha idol of Nataraja, weighing nearly half-a-tonne, the other idols needed close scrutiny. A record claimed that four Natarajar icons of temples located near Thanjavur were impounded at the Calcutta airport in 1974. One of these could be traced to a gallery in the United States. “We have sought the relevant documents from the Calcutta airport to trace the other three and to bring back the one in the U.S.,” he said. 

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), led by its Regional Director Nambirajan, carried out the antique verification process of the icons kept in the Big Temple using portable fluorescence spectrometers. The ASI team also checked the antiquity of idols belonging to the Sri Mariamman Temple and Sri Kailasanathar Temple, both at Punnainallur near Thanjavur, and concluded that some of them could have been replaced.   

In the Pasupatheeshwarar temple in Pandanaluur, also in Thanjavur district, many later Chola bronzes are missing from the temple’s safe custody. Of 300-odd idols, 62 have been found to be fake, while 22 are missing. The Idol Wing has filed six First Information Reports (FIRs) and even arrested a few senior officials of the Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Department in this connection.   

A staggering 273 FIRs on 1,106 missing idols have been filed so far. More than 1,000 idols from 387 temples across the State have been stolen in the last 25 years, according to the Idol Wing.