Kancheepuram (Tamil Nadu): During the renovation of a temple near Tamil Nadu's Kancheepuram, the villagers found ancient gold items. The Lord Shiva temple in Uthiramerur was taken up for renovation by the villagers. During the process, the villagers found gold items weighing over half a kg beneath the steps leading to the temple's shrine.
A temple town, Uthiramerur is about 90 KM from Chennai and 40 KM from Kancheepuram. The town is famous for its inscriptions related to elections that showed a strong grassroots level democracy, a millennium ago. However, the concerned authorities have seized the gold items. The villagers protested against this move made by the authority.
After receiving the information about gold items being found during the renovation of the temple, the officials wanted to hand it over to the government. However, the devotees and the local people did not want to give away the gold. They wanted to place the gold items at the same place from where it was found after renovation.
As the talks between the authorities and the local people regarding the gold items failed, the former deployed police personnel at the village, and seized the gold, put it in a box and sealed it before taking it away.
The Lord Shiva temple was many centuries old, and villagers believed it to be from the Chola era.
On being asked about if the seized material was gold or not, the Revenue Divisional Officer of Uthiramerur, Vidya said that the seized items looked like gold. However, a proper assessment could not take place as the people protested while they were taking away the seized material. Vidya further said that the gold has been deposited with the treasury.
The gold weighed "565 grams", said a police official. The government revenue authorities are yet to take a decision of whether to give the gold to the temple or not.