The Chola and Pandya kingdoms didn’t just build temples — they mastered a copper alloying tradition whose secrets are only now being recovered. Dr. Murugaiyan Amirthalingam, a certified underwater welder who became a copper idol metallurgist by accident in 2016 when called to verify a stolen idol’s composition, has since studied thousands of temple idols in active worship across Tamil Nadu — mapping their composition, dimensions, and alloy characteristics.
The Panchaloha (five-metal) alloy tradition of Chola and Pandya metalworkers — spanning roughly 700 CE to 1850 CE — produced idols of extraordinary durability and aesthetic precision. In 2020, Amirthalingam’s team completed the restoration of a critical artefact in the Tanjavur temple, using knowledge drawn from ancient texts and spectroscopic analysis of surviving originals.
Copper’s natural antibacterial and antifungal properties are also highlighted — ancient Indian seed vaults used copper vessels to preserve grains, far superior to Norway’s modern Svalbard seed vault. The Brihadeeswara’s 80-tonne dome remains an engineering marvel. The talk concludes with Amirthalingam’s mission: build new copper idol structures using recovered traditional knowledge with a mandate that they stand for 500 years — continuing a lineage that was never truly broken.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Murugaiyan Amirthalingam is the Associate Professor in the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering (MME) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. He serves as the Head of the Joining and Additive Manufacturing Laboratory, and \ the faculty in-charge of the Gleeble-Thermomechanical Simulation Laboratory and Physical Metallurgy Laboratory within MME. His academic journey began with a PhD at Delft University of Technology (TU-Delft), where he later served as a post-doctoral researcher as well. His contributions are recognized internationally, including prestigious awards such as the Kenneth Easterling award from the International Institute of Welding (IIW) in 2015, and the Dr Placid Rodriguez’s memorial lecture award and IT Mirchandani Research Award from the Indian Institute of Welding in 2020. Dr. Amirthalingam has authored nearly 45 publications in international journals and presented close to 60 papers at international conferences.
