TN treasures back from Australia

1046-year-old stone idol of Narasimha was stolen from Virudhakireeswarar temple in Virudhachalam along with four others

The theft came to light in 2015 following a confession from an idol smuggler, while it was stolen in 2002

 Heist was personally carried out by notorious Subhash Kapoor, who smuggled it to his Art of the Past gallery in Manhattan

 Idol was sold to the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra for Rs 1.49 crore (US $ 2.75 lakh) in 2005 by Kapoor’s  gallery

 The NGA through its authorities returned the 210-kg idol to Delhi, after the idol wing forwarded  relevant documents

 Four other idols of Jnanasakthi, Itchasakthi, Kriyasakthi and Vinayakar stolen from this temple still remain abroad