Former Inspector-General of Police A.G. Ponn Manickavel has urged the Tamil Nadu government to take up with the Karnataka government the issue of a missing temple built 949 years ago by a descendant of Rajaraja Chola-I in the modern day Tumkur district of Karnataka.
Mr. Manickavel had served as the Inspector-General of Police, Idol Wing, and as the Special Officer of the High Court-appointed investigation team that cracked several cases of theft of idols and artefacts from the Tamil Nadu temples.
Writing to P.K. Sekarbabu, Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment, and officers of the Department, Mr. Manickavel said Sri Udayar Rajadhi Raja Devar-I, the grandson of Rajaraja Chola-I and son of Rajendra Chola-I, had established a town named ‘Rajendra Cholapuram’ at Kunigal in Tumkur district.
He had also built a temple named ‘Rajendra chozhiswaram’ 949 years ago in memory of his father at Kotegiri village, five kilometres away from Kunigal, and donated a rare bronze Nataraja idol (called ‘Rajadhiraja Vindhagar’) to the temple, besides valuables and stone idols.
Claiming that sources close to him shared details of the temple with him, Mr. Manickavel said, “The ancient temple can no longer be found in the village. Stone inscriptions about the temple were ignored and found lying near a recently built temple in the village. The bronze idol…and stone idols were found missing and stolen from there.”
Mr. Manickavel said the Tamil Nadu authorities should recover the stone inscriptions and lodge a complaint with the police concerned about the missing temple and idols. He also wanted the area where the temple stood to be declared a protected monument.
