While the special investigation team probing the Sabarimala gold theft case is believed to be looking into the South Indian ancient mafia, statistics from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) reveal that 31 ancient idols have been stolen from various protected sites, monuments and temples in the country in the recent past. Of these, only four could be recovered by law enforcement agencies, while 27 are still missing.
According to ASI sources, although most of the cases were reported from South India, particularly Karnataka, where 14 antiquities were stolen from ASI-protected sites between 2013 and 2023, no antiquities have been stolen from ASI-protected sites in Kerala since the ASI formed its circle in Kerala in 1997.
The case of Kalady
However, many other cases have been reported in the state, including the theft of a half-foot tall Sivalinga, made of a green stone believed to be an emerald, which went missing in 2009 from the Adi Sankara Janmabhoomi temple at Kalady in Ernakulam.
Speaking to The Hindu, a senior senior police officer said that a special Temple Theft Investigation Team (TTIST) was formed shortly after this burglary. Although the special team has cracked many other cases, the Kalada idol still eludes the police net even though the team then tried to question Subhash Kapoor, a US-based antiquities dealer whose name now appears in the Sabarimala gold theft case. Later, the TTIST team was disbanded and members were deputed to other wings of the police force, including the District Anti-Narcotics Special Action Force (DANSAF).
In light of the new Sabarimala controversy and since Mr. Kapoor was extradited to India, the police are now looking into reopening the Kalady case, the officer said. In the case of antiquities stolen from ASI-protected monuments and temples in the country, the agency was able to recover about 251 antiquities from abroad between 1976 and 2023. Among them, 238 antiquities were acquired after 2014 and about 176 of them were acquired from the US, Australia alone and 16 from India with support from India and 16 from India. and missions abroad.
Cases of theft
However, the recovered antiquities are only the tip of the iceberg, considering the number of such thefts during the late 1990s and early years of the millennium. For example, 813 antiquities were stolen from the country in 1997 alone, followed by 528 in 1998, 704 in 1999, 539 in 2000 and 403 in 2001, according to parliamentary records. There are 29 protected monuments and 13 temples under ASI in Kerala. Famous temples like the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, where a treasure worth billions of rupees was discovered from secret underground chambers in 2011, and Sabarimala do not come under the jurisdiction of the ASI.
Published – 02 Jan 2026 21:08 IST
