Missing idol at Sri Kapali Temple; court critical of priests

The case of the ‘missing’ idol of a peacock in one of the sannidhis of Sri Kapaleeswarar Temple in Mylapore is playing out in the Madras High Court even as the state says the police’s Idol Wing CID is probing this case.

On Tuesday when the case, filed by a Srirangam resident came up for hearing before a Division Bench of the Court, judge  R. Mahadevan said that the temple priests were doing a mechanical job and had not cared for the condition of the idols at this temple.

This particular idol – of a peacock holding flowers in its beak and representing goddess Parvati, consort of lord Shiva is said to be missing since 2004.

Judge P D Audikesavalu asked why the officers of the HR & CE Department which oversees state temples had kept mum over this issue when they knew the old idol had been replaced with a new one.

The petitioner in this case says that during the temple’s kumbhabishekam in 2004, the original idol had been replaced with one of a peacock holding a snake in its beak. He said that such an idol ( peacock holding a snake) could be found only in temples dedicated to lord Muruga.