Ajmer (Rajasthan), December 19, 2013: Three ancient statues were stolen from a Jain temple situated in Sarawgi Mohalla of Naya Bazaar here. This is the third incident in last two years where Jain statues have been stolen. The statues were said to be about 800 years old including one of Lord Mahaveer.
According to the police, on Thursday when the priest opened the temple he found that someone had broken the lock to of the temple’s main gate. “Three statues along with some gold and silver ornaments were found missing,” the priest told the police. Sources said that these three statues were ‘ashtadhatu’ (made of eight elements) . “It is not possible to make such statues these days and the Jain community had a lot of faith in them,” said Naresh Patani, secretary of the market association.
A large number of people gathered on the spot as soon as the news of theft reached them. The people were angry with the plice. “Jain temples are specially targeted by robbers and this is the fourth incident of theft in the Jain temple,” said a member of the Jain community.
Earlier two statues in Goda Gail, Anand Mandir and Sarawgi Mohalla were stolen, while a Jain temple in Kishangarh was also robbed. “It seems that robbers were not locals but there is a gang which collects antique and unique statues from Jain temples,” said an official. “This is a matter of not only valuable statues but a matter of faith of the community,” said Patani. He added that these temples in the Walled City are very old and people have faith in them. – News Courtesy: Times of India