Stolen 17th century Tamil bible traced to London after 17 years
Chennai, Jul 1: It is not just idols and artefacts that are stolen from ancient temples of Tamil Nadu. Even an antiquarian Bible, said to be the world's first Tamil version and printed in coastal Tharangambadi of the State in 17th century, was not spared.
The holy book was stolen by a group of foreigners 17 years ago, the Tamil Nadu Idol Wing said on Friday.
The Wing traced the bible with the signature of Rajah Serfoji of Tanjore to a museum in London. The sleuths said it has initiated steps to restore the bible to the Saraswathi Mahal library, Thanjavur, from where it was stolen in 2005.
Though the police registered a CSR (community service register) following a complaint by the Deputy Administrator of Serfoji Palace with the Thanjavur West police station on October 10, 2005 stating that the bible was stolen, the case was treated as "closed."
On October 17, 2017, the Idol Wing-CID received a complaint from an individual E Rajendran on the disappearance of the bible from Saraswathi Mahal and a complaint was registered.
As no headway was made in the investigation, Tamil Nadu Idol Wing Director-General of Police K Jayanth Murali, Inspector General of Police R Dhinakaran, and Superintendent of Police B Ravi intensified the investigation.
A special team under Inspector of Police Indira was set up to trace the holy book.
A perusal of the visitor's register revealed that there had been some foreign visitors to the Saraswathi Mahal library on October 7, 2005, the day the Bible went missing.
Further enquiries revealed that the visitors had come to India to attend a function to commemorate Bartholomeus Ziegenbalg, a Danish missionary.
Suspecting them, the Wing launched a web search of various museums in the world and collector's websites and organisations connected with Bartholomeus Ziegenbalg.
"Several days of browsing multiple websites of various museums abroad, we stumbled upon the collection of George III which included thousands of printed books, manuscripts and pamphlets, most of which are rare," the Wing said.
Hidden among thousands of books lay the stolen bible. "The antiquarian Bible that was available on the website of the King's collection tallied with the picture of the stolen Bible and this was corroborated," Jayanth Murali said.
"The Idol Wing hopes to retrieve the bible and restore it to the Saraswathi Mahal library under the UNESCO treaty soon," he said.
The copy of the holy book, given by a Danish missionary to the then Tanjore King Serfoji, is a rare manuscript of the Maharaja. Its value gets further enhanced by the fact that the cover of the book bears the signature of the then King of Tanjore Serfoji.
"All efforts are being made to restore this rare bible to Saraswathi Mahal Library," he added.
Responding to an appeal from the King of Denmark for missionaries, Bartholomeus Ziegenbalg, born in Saxony in 1682, accompanied by Heinrich Plueshau, arrived at Tranquebar (anglicised form of Tharangambadi), a tiny Danish settlement, close to Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu as the first Protestant missionary in the country in September 1706.
He set up a printing press and published studies of Tamil language and Indian religion and culture. His translation of the New Testament into Tamil in 1715 and the church building he and his associates constructed in 1718 are still in use today.
He died on February 23, 1719, at the age of 37 and left behind a Tamil translation of the New Testament and Genesis through Ruth, many brief writings in Tamil, two church buildings, the seminary, and 250 baptised Christians.
Another missionary named Schwartz became a close friend and advisor of Tulaji Rajah Serfoji. In commemoration of their friendship, it is said Schwartz handed over the first copy of the new testament, which Ziegenbalg printed and left behind, to Tulaji Rajah Serfoji.
After the Tamil Nadu government took over, the book became an exhibit in the Saraswati Mahal library for public-viewing.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
