People of Vridhachalam in Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore district on Tuesday morning woke up to a shocking news of three gold-plated ‘kalasams’ atop the famous Viruthagireeswar Siva temple at Vridachalam in Cudallore district being stolen on Maha Shivaratri.
Each ‘kalasam’, weighed more than 300 kgs. The temple is considered as one of the four top Siva shrines among the 1008 in the country. Vridhachalam Police have registered a case and the investigation is on.
Local residents and temple priests on Tuesday morning found that the ‘kalasams’ above the ‘Vimanam’ in the temple missing and immediately alerted the police.
District Superintendent of Police, S. Sakthi Ganeshan after inspecting the scene said that the criminals would have used a ladder to climb top the ‘Vimanam’ and stolen the ‘kalasams’.
While speaking to IANS, the District Superintendent of Police said: “We have examined the CCTV footage in the temple and have found proper leads. We are zeroing in on the culprits and will apprehend them soon.”
The Viruthagireeswar temple at Cuddalore is believed to be more than 2,500 years old.
This theft comes on the back of a spate of temple vandalisms and thefts in Tamil Nadu, along with over-night razing of temples declared “illegal encroachments” by civic authorities, overruling Hindu devotees’ pleas.
(With IANS inputs)
