Chengannur: Stolen dome recovered from temple premise

Chengannur, Saturday, October 22, 2011: The dome of the Muthavazhi Subramanian Swami Temple at Pandanad near Chengannur that was reportedly stolen on October 20, was found in front of a house near temple premise.

The police have arrested one person and is being interrogated in connection with the case. The dome had hit headlines three years back following claims that it contained iridium, a metal 80 times less abundant than silver and the annual global production of which is less than three tones.

Interestingly, police sources said there was a Special Branch alert just two days back, warning the local police station and the temple authorities too, of a possible attempt at stealing the dome.

The temple is said to have been constructed 1,700 to 2,000 years back, though there are no documents to prove this. A few researchers who visited the temple following the controversy in 2008 are learnt to have said that iridium could have been used for constructing the dome in an indirect manner, since traces of the metal can be found in alloys with raw copper or raw nickel.