Ancient sculptures and temple pillars seized and repatriated by the #TamilNadu Idol Wing lie amid construction equipment during ongoing renovation work at Chennai’s Egmore Government Museum, prompting concerns ✍🏽@ganesh_sanjana thehindu.com/society/history…

Followed up on a tweet that @thirdmainroad shared about further degradation to ancient idols retrieved by the TN Police due to renovation works at the government museum in Egmore. Really hope things change. Some of these date back to the 11th Century surely.

Please come to the Egmore Museum this Saturday 11 am! Save our idols and art, demand accountability! TOI has now covered it too. But sharing is not enough. Priceless Chola and Pallava artefacts are lying neglected and being damaged in the very institution meant to protect them. This cannot end with outrage online. We have to show up. We have to demand accountability. We have to ask who is responsible, why this was allowed to happen, and what will be done immediately to protect these treasures. Please come to the Egmore Museum this Saturday. Let us stand together for our history. timesofindia.indiatimes.com/…

Join the peaceful protest on site to demand that the authorities immediately stop this recklessness and move these treasures into safe, professional keeping. 📍 WHERE: Behind the Bronze Gallery, Government Museum, Egmore, Chennai 🗓️ WHEN: Saturday, 13 June ⏰ TIME: 11:00 AM

The damage continues as you read this! The core issue is: these are not random stones. These are Chola, Hoysala and other ancient artefacts seized by the police after being stolen and smuggled in a major case. They were targeted by international smugglers because they are among the most beautiful and priceless pieces of art we have. The Idol Wing spent years recovering them. Now they are being damaged like construction debris. I am organising a peaceful protest on site to demand that the authorities immediately stop this recklessness and move these treasures into safe, professional keeping. (3/4) 📍 WHERE: Government Museum, Egmore, Chennai 🗓️ WHEN: Saturday, 13 June ⏰ TIME: 11:00 AM Bring your love for history. Bring your anger. Bring your voice.

Retweets and likes alone will not protect our history. It is time to step out from behind our screens and stop being armchair activists. If we do not stand up for our heritage today, there may be nothing left for future generations except photographs of what we allowed to be destroyed. I am organising a peaceful protest on site to demand that the authorities immediately stop this recklessness and move these treasures into safe, professional keeping. (3/4)

Rushed or finished, the damage is already happening. Some may already have broken after being dumped. Many more are being damaged by heavy machinery, concrete work, pipes, beams and sheer disregard. The Hindu has now reported this crisis after my post went viral: thehindu.com/society/history… I have taken hard-hitting videos on site showing exactly how dire this is. Watching construction continue around 1,000-year-old sacred art is sickening. (2/4)

Update: The Hindu has now picked up this issue from this tweet. Thank you to everyone who shared, reposted and amplified this. thehindu.com/society/history… But this is not over. The damage is still happening. These priceless Chola, Hoysala and other ancient artefacts are still being damaged while work continues around them. Will anyone join me in a peaceful protest at the museum site? We cannot just be armchair sharers while our heritage is destroyed in front of our eyes. We have to physically show up, demand accountability, and save what is left.

I went back today. The construction activity is still going on, with even more workers on site. These ancient statues and artefacts are lying exposed while work continues around them. Damage is not a past-tense issue — it is happening right now. Please keep sharing, tagging officials, journalists, archaeologists and conservation experts. I will post more photos and videos shortly.

These antiquities survived for thousands of years, only to be mindlessly damaged & destroyed inside the very museum meant to protect them! This negligence must stop IMMEDIATELY. IS THIS HOW WE PROTECT AND CHERISH TAMIL HERITAGE? @TVKVijayHQ @CMOTamilnadu @AsianetNewsML @TNeGA_Official @ASIGoI @annamalai_k @mkstalin @Udhaystalin @elonmusk @narendramodi @PMOIndia @newslaundry @BBCWorld @the_hindu @TamilTheHindu @Swamy39 @SwarajyaMag @IndianExpress @republic @ndtv @ndtvindia @NewIndianXpress @thenewsminute @scroll_in @RGVzoomin @AlwaysRamCharan @PawanKalyan @iitmadras @MadrasTalkies_ @Storytrails @chennaicorp @ChennaiTimesTOI @nytimes @TimesNow @htTweets

இவங்க மூணு பேரையும் ஒரே மேடையில் விவாதம் செய்ய சொன்னால் எப்படி இருக்கும்.‌‌..??!! @TVKVijayHQ @Udhaystalin @annamalai_k

Repeat after me #BringBackAnnamalai Now . Trend it 50K plus RT needed . Let the Modi ji hear our Voice . Our Voice matters

His name is U Sagayam. He became District Collector of Namakkal in 2009. The first thing he did was upload his personal assets on the district website. Bank balance: Rs 7,172. House in Madurai jointly owned with his wife: Rs 9 lakh. That was everything he had after 18 years of government service. He said this. The district collector should set an example of honesty for his subordinates. He was the first IAS officer in Tamil Nadu to voluntarily publish his financial details. In 2000 he found dirt floating in Pepsi bottles as Additional District Magistrate in Kanchipuram. He sealed the entire plant. Refused to back down despite pressure. In 2004 he found restaurants in Chennai using subsidized domestic gas cylinders illegally. He confiscated 5,000 cylinders in three days. In 2012 as District Collector of Madurai he investigated illegal granite quarrying. His report found losses to the state of at least Rs 16,000 crore. He named politicians and officials. He was transferred four days after submitting the report. That was transfer number 19. In 2015 the High Court appointed him to probe a granite scam. He needed to exhume bodies as evidence. The police refused to help. He was worried evidence would be tampered with. He spent the night alone in a graveyard. In Namakkal 5,000 villagers once came out to protest when the government tried to transfer him. The transfer was withdrawn. He was ultimately kept for six years in an insignificant post at Science City Chennai with nothing to do. In 2021 he resigned voluntarily. Three years before retirement. His office door had a sign throughout his entire career. Reject bribes. Hold your head high. His name is U Sagayam. Follow for real stories about people who chose truth over everything.

And just like that, a spiritual day became a retail event. This isn’t tradition. It’s belief… monetised.

Then the early 2000s happened. The World Gold Council agencies like Ogilvy and Lowe Lintas rewrote the narrative: “Buy gold today → your wealth will never diminish.”