'Ancient gold' unearthed during temple renovation in Tamil Nadu

In a rather unusual incident, villagers found "ancient gold" during the renovation of a Lord Shiva temple in Tamil Nadu. The "gold items" were discovered beneath the stairs leading to the sanctum sanctorum of the temple few days ago.

The gold, weighing over 500 grams was later seized by authorities and deposited with the government treasury even as the locals declined to part with it. Devotees and locals wanted the yellow metal to be kept at the very same spot since it is considered auspicious and has been a practice since "times immemorial" once renovation work is completed.

While devotees and locals further argued that authorities have no right to seize or retain the gold since it belonged to the temple, authorities were vehement on taking the gold with them and handing it over to the government.

After talks failed, adequate number of police officials was deployed and they seized the find, packed it in a box and sealed it amid protests.

Revenue Divisional Officer Vidya told PTI that the find "looked like gold". She mentioned that a complete assessment was not possible due to the protests of the people and the officials "only have a count".

She added the gold was an "assortment", including that appeared to be a kind of a waist chain. A police official told the agency that the gold weighed about 565 gram and any decision with regards to returning the gold to the temple authorities or not will be taken by government revenue authorities.

Edited with PTI inputs

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