Idol Wing CID will be strengthened, says Minister
The Hindu
Government will construct strongrooms in temples to prevent idol thefts, says Sekarbabu
Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister P.K. Sekarbabu on Thursday said the government had taken steps to strengthen the Idol Wing CID to prevent thefts in temples.
“We have identified idols smuggled to foreign countries and taken steps to bring them back with the help of the Centre,” he told reporters before a review meeting with joint commissioners, assistant commissioners and regional commissioners.
Mr. Sekarbabu said the DMK government was committed to protecting the idols and would create strongrooms across the State.
Hampi, the UNESCO-recognised historical site, was the capital of the Vijayanagara empire from 1336 to 1565. Foreign travellers from Persia, Europe and other parts of the world have chronicled the wealth of the place and the unique cultural mores of this kingdom built on the banks of the Tungabhadra river. There are fine descriptions to be found of its temples, farms, markets and trading links, remnants of which one can see in the ruins now. The Literature, architecture of this era continue inspire awe.
Unfurling the zine handed to us at the start of the walk, we use brightly-coloured markers to draw squiggly cables across the page, starting from a sepia-toned vintage photograph of the telegraph office. Iz, who goes by the pronouns they/them, explains, “This building is still standing, though it shut down in 2013,” they say, pointing out that telegraphy, which started in Bengaluru in 1854, was an instrument of colonial power and control. “The British colonised lands via telegraph cables, something known as the All Red Line.”