Udupi: The Panchaloha (5 metals mixed) idols were found in a drain of Paiyar hill region located on the borders of Belapu and Kalttur villages near Kaup on Friday, Aug.5. The spot was close to Lord Ranganathaswamy Temple near Udupi. Thieves are suspected by local police to have hidden these stolen hoary idols in drains, on inspection by a Tantry.
One of the 2 idols was of a Serpent God with 5 hoods. The other could not be identified whether of a God or a goddess. Archaeologists have valued the idols to cost Rs 50lacs, and they had and they had Vijayanagara connections as Bali image, according to historians.
The Shirva police had started combing the drainage area following public complaints that strangers were moving around at night to lift these images for sale. The Serpent God weighed around 3kgs., while the festival image(or Bali) weighed 11kgs. The images are under police protection, under station officer K.R.Nayak at Shirva.