An emerald lingam reportedly worth Rs 5 billion has been recovered from a bank locker of a man in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur on Thursday. On Friday, the idol wing of the Chennai police department, led by ADGP K Jayanth Murali, informed the media. They had received a tip that antique idols were being housed at a Thanjavur residence.
Known as the ‘Maragatha Lingam’ (a Shiva lingam carved out of emerald), this gem has an estimated value of Rs 5 billion and was taken from the old Sri Thiyagaraja Swamy Temple, maintained by Dharmapuram Aadheenam in Thirukkuvalai near Nagapattinam in 2016. A police squad retrieved the emerald lingam from the bank locker.
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There will be an investigation to determine its age, but it is expected to be 1,000 years old. A case has been filed and is under investigation by the Idol wing police. It is believed the 1,000-year-old emerald lingam taken from the temple came from an East Asian kingdom during the reign of King Rajendra Chola.
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