Ancient stone pillar from T.N. traced to Vienna

An antique stone pillar, possibly stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu, has been traced to Vienna in Austria.

Following an alert from Austrian authorities, the Idol Wing-CID of the Tamil Nadu Police has launched steps to bring back the pillar, said to be from the 18th to 19th century.

The officers of the IW-CID have been working to recover stolen idols and artefacts from within the country as well as abroad. During the course of their work, Additional Deputy Superintendent of Police, G. Balamurugan, received information that an antique stone pillar, about half a tonne in weight and featuring a bas-relief (embossed sculpture) of a deity, possibly Lord Vishnu, Garuda, a saint, and a hamsa (swan), had been seized by the Austrian law enforcing agency.

The IW-CID received photographs of the pillar from the Federal Ministry of Interior Criminal Intelligence Service, Cultural Property Unit, Austria.

“It appears that the pillar was stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu,” Additional Director General of Police, Idol Wing, D. Kalpana Nayak, said.

Owing to the common nature of the pillar (found in many temples in Tamil Nadu), its exact provenance could not be located.

The curator of the IW-CID examined the photos and found that the pillar was made of light buff granite block usually found in north-western regions of Tamil Nadu (Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri belt) or adjoining areas of Tamil Nadu such as Kolar district of Karnataka or Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. The curator said it could be also from small mandapas (pillared halls), which are usually erected in front of the main shrine, as a smaller temple for Nandhi and Garuda.

Such four-pillared mandapas were also constructed in villages for various purposes, but were essentially connected with temple festivals. They are antiquities as defined by the Antiquity and Art Treasures Act, 1972.

The IW-CID said that on October 30, 2025, this was communicated to officers of the Federal Ministry of Interior Criminal Intelligence Service, Cultural Property Unit, Austria, and the Embassy of India in Vienna. They replied that they were ready to start the process of restitution.