Vigil intensified around temple, town: Kullu SP

Abhinav Vashisht

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Kullu, January 6

After one month of the second incident of heist in the famous Raghunath temple located in the heart of Kullu town on the intervening night of December 8 and 9 last year, in which burglars had decamped with an idol of Lord Raghunath, chief presiding deity of the town, besides other idols and ornaments, various measures have been taken.

The steps will ensure that the remaining artefacts, including the golden idol of Goddess Sita, believed to be built during the Treta Yug (7300 BC to 4800 BC) and brought here in the mid-17th century, are protected from such robbers in future.

These idols carry not only religious and traditional significance as the world-famous Kullu Dusehra revolves entirely around Lord Raghunath, but are also priceless as these are antique pieces.

In January last year, burglars decamped with silver crowns and ornaments weighing 40.9 kg, along with 165 gm of gold and ornaments valued around Rs 24 lakh, from the same temple. Besides closed-circuit cameras at the temple entrance, there were no worthwhile security arrangements in place due to which the stolen items were never traced.

Himachal Lokhit Party president and Kullu MLA Maheshwar Singh, who is also the “chharibardar” (chief caretaker) of Lord Raghunath, said the temple management would execute all the necessary security and safety procedures.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Surinder Verma said vigil near the temple in the Sultanpur area and throughout the town had been increased. It was not possible to provide armed guards for round-the-clock security to private temples or institutions at the cost of the public exchequer. The police had suggested various measures to the temple committees located in the town to ensure the safety of ancient heritage of the valley, the SP said.

The SP said the police were analysing every detail and were hopeful of apprehending the culprits soon. Patrolling had been intensified and the police were investigating the case from various aspects to recover the stolen idols.

Kullu Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rakesh Kanwar said there was no separate fund for the protection of privately owned properties of public interest, even famous and significant temples. The allocation of fund announced for the temples of the state was the prerogative of the state government, but no such fund was available as yet, he said.

The DC said temple committees could put up requests for security and the administration would try to find best possible ways to assist in such issues.

Dot Ram Thakur, president of the Kullu Devi Devta Kardar Sangh, said funds collected from rich temples should be utilised to improve the condition of temples and places of religious and cultural significance throughout the state. A separate fund should be created from the earnings of such religious places and transparency in expenditure should be enforced, he said.

He said keeping in view the annual income of most of the temples it was not possible to keep armed guards or install good quality cameras and the government should protect the ancient heritage of the hill state.