‘Ancient treasures missing from Saraswathi Mahal’

Following the case registered in connection with the theft of idols of Raja Raja I and his consort from the Big Temple after 50 years, activists and residents have demanded a probe into the theft of valuables from the medieval Saraswathi Mahal Library.

On Wednesday, a group of RTI activists and lawyers, led by V Jeevakumar, submitted a petition to T Senthilkumar, SP, in which, they pointed out that a rare Tamil book titled “Puthiya Agamangalin Muthalam Pangu” printed in 1810 was missing from the library since October 8, 2006. The petitioners suspected two German tourists to whom the book was taken out from the showcase and shown to them. Similarly, a Thanjavur Painting, which depicted Krishna, studded with precious stones was also stolen from the library in 1968.