Sarv Devta Seva Samiti (SDSS), Mandi, called an emergency meeting, under the chairmanship of the SDSS president, Shiv Pal Sharma, and condemned theft of Lord Raghunath's idol, the principal deity of the Kullu district people.
Pal said that the issue of temples security in the state had been raised and discussed a number of times in the past and now the SDSS once again urged the chief minister, Virbhadra Singh, to discuss the issue at a state-level meeting and frame a policy to save the hill state's traditional and cultural heritage.
Pal also urged the kardars (head of the management affairs committee of hill state deities) to ensure security and safety at their own level till the government framed some policy and provided security and funds to the temples of historical importance.
He said the issue was discussed at length with Mandi superintendent of police, Mohit Chawla, here on Wednesday and Chawla had issued instructions to every police station to prepare report of the temples of historical importance and submit the report to head office to decide future course of action to prevent theft and damage to the idols and temples.
Pal said that there were a number of temples in the Mandi district and had valuables and age old idols of gold and silver and the government should acquire the list from language, arts and culture department and equip these temples with full proof security arrangements.
{{/usCountry}}Pal said that there were a number of temples in the Mandi district and had valuables and age old idols of gold and silver and the government should acquire the list from language, arts and culture department and equip these temples with full proof security arrangements.
{{/usCountry}}Pal drew special attention of the state government and district authorities towards the temple and idols of principal deity of Mandi, Lord Raj Madhav, and demanded duty of a home guard jawan in the night to protect the temple from any untoward incident till full fledged security arrangement were made on the temple campus.