 |
| Sivapuram Nataraja idol,near Kumbakonam, TNin.pinterest.com |
Above image: The Sivapuram Nataraja that Norton Simon returned to India from the USA. Image via the Idol Wing of the Tamil Nadu police.One NYC dealer , sold the Nataraja Idol to the Norton Simon Foundation, California for one million dollars in 1973-74. The Foundation had no idea about the history of the idol and possible police chase........
 |
| Siva Gurunatha Swamy temple, Sivapuram,TN, en.wikipedia.org |
A few days ago on 27 November 2023, the villagers of Sivapuram near Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu were quite happy that their long prayer had been answered by the god himself. What they had been praying for decades had happened that day. Yes, it was the return of a priceless and historical iyyempon idol of God Nataraja (cosmic dancer) stolen about 66 years ago from the 11th century Chola temple at Sivapuram village. The idol will be back home -Sivagurunathan swamy temple temporarily for the conduct of special puja and worship .
The villagers celebrated the arrival of the Nataraja idol like a festival and held a big procession of devotees to the accompaniment of traditional music of Nadaswaram.and Thavil. The idol had been an object of divinity which the villagers' ancestors for several centuries. had worshiped with devotion.
The idol was taken round the village with police bandobast because of its immense and historical value. The Chola era idol is believed to have been gifted by Sembiyan Mahadevi, grandmother of the mighty Rajaraja Chola of 11th century CE and it represents the ethos and culture of the Chola Nadu.
The idol was stolen way back in 1956 and immediately it had been replaced by a fake one by the smugglers in collusion with a sthapathy. to avoid suspicion. The Thanjavur DA office handed over the fake idol without their knowledge to the temple.The Nataraja idol is one among the six idols discovered during an excavation in June, 1951 and later handed over to the Temple.
 |
| return of Sivapuram Nataraja idol after 66 yearsvskbharat.com |
In 1965 a British official who apparently got a chance to see it questioned the authenticity of the Nataraja idol in a publication. Since a section of the local people was furious about the fake idols in the Sivapuram temple,, in 1969 a complaint petition was submitted to the Nachiyar kovil police station and no action was taken. Upon additional complaint petition, the Idol Wing of TN Govt made serious investigation with various photos to get to the bottom. Idol Wing along with the Pondicherry French Inst threw light on the originality of the idols. It was confirmed the Nataraja and other idols of great antiquity were fake.
Finally, the Nataraja idol was brought back to India in 1986 from abroad, after several legal issues and glitches As for the culprits, they were, caught, chargesheeted and convicted by the court.
On orders from the court the Nataraja idol was kept at the icon centre (purportedly a safe store facility with safevaults under the state govt. control) inside the Thyagaraja Swami temple in Tiruvarur, The local people filed a petition in the court, Kumbakonam to release the idol from the Icon center, Thiruvarur for worship and conducting puja at the Sivapuram temple, the idol's original home. The court obliged and ordered the idols of Shiva and Vinayaka to be released temporarily for worship at the temple. The court further stated that once the special puja is over the idols will be deposited with the Icon center inside the Naganatha swamy temple, Thirunageswaram, near Kumbakonam.
Ref:
The Hindu Tamil 27 nov. 23, 2023
https://www.madrasmusings.com/vol-28-no-23/the-lord-returns-to-his-abode/
