Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E. K. Palani Swamy handed over the three ancient bronze idols of Rama, Laxmana and Sita to the Rajagopala Swamy Temple E.O Sankareshwari on Friday. The idols reached the temple on Saturday from Chennai. Temple authorities said the idols would be formally reinstalled on November 25.

E.K. Palani Swamy received these idols from the Union Culture Ministry earlier this week. These three ancient bronze idols belong to Rajagopala Swamy temple at Ananthamangalam in Nagapattinam district got back three of its idols stolen 42 years ago, authorities said. The idols, which were recovered in London, reached the temple on Saturday from Chennai.

In 1978, four bronze idols – that of Lord Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, and Hanuman belonging to this 15th century temple were stolen.

Porayar police had registered a case and even arrested three people, but the idols couldn’t be traced. According to the Authorities sources, the information from a Singapore-based voluntary organisation which monitors the trade of artefacts in the international market, three of the four stolen idols were recovered from an antique collector in London during September this year. The Metropolitan Police in London handed over the three idols (Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita) to the Indian Embassy.