Idol missing from Sri Kapali Temple, allege devotees

According to a few devotees, a stone idol of a peacock, believed to be Goddess Karpagambal and located inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Sri Punnaivananathar Shrine at Sri Kapali Temple, Mylapore has gone missing.

The executive officer of the temple, D. Kaveri says, “A criminal original petition has been filed by Rangarajan Narasimhan from Trichy wherein he states that the idol is missing. Different views are being presented by various groups of devotees. But everyone agrees that the idol was changed in 2004. However there are conflicting views on the location of the old idol”.

She states that HR&CE is conducting an investigation into the matter.

A devotee who has been serving the temple for more than two decades says that there is no way that the idol could have gone missing. He says, “There are certain rules that need to be followed when an idol is replaced. It is possible that the old idol could have been buried. There is absolutely no need for such a controversy. These untruths hurt the sentiments of the devotees. There is an investigation going on and so it makes sense to wait for the outcome of the investigation before people jump to conclusions”.