Stolen Antique Tamil Nadu Statues Have Been Returned By Britain To India

Conny Waters - AncientPages.com - Three antique idols depicting of Lord Ram, Lakshman and Sita have been returned by Britain to Indian authorities.

The three bronze statues were stolen from Tamil Nadu in 1978, from a Hindu temple in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

The idols of Lord Ram, Lakshman and Sita, being sent back to Tamil Nadu, were stolen from a temple built in the Vijayanagar period in the Nagapattinam district. Image credit: HT
Now, after more than 40 years, the artifacts being sent back to Tamil Nadu, were stolen from a temple built in the Vijayanagar period in the Nagapattinam district.

They were voluntarily handed over to the police by an unidentified UK-based collector when informed that they were stolen property, writes Hindustan Times.

The handover ceremony at India House was attended by officials of the Metropolitan Police and remotely by Union minister for culture and tourism Prahlad Singh Patel from New Delhi, as well as officials in Chennai.

Patel said that only 13 antique items were returned to India between 1947 and 2014, but after that, more than 40 such antiquities have returned home.

“Efforts are also on to return one idol from the British Museum”.

Detective chief inspector of the Metropolitan Police Tim Wright said that the Metropolitan Police are proud to have been involved in the return of these Chola bronzes to India.

The UK-based collector behind the handover, who has chosen to stay anonymous, was described as a lover of Indian art and culture.

“Not only are they beautiful and historically significant, they are of course of religious importance, and therefore it is particularly gratifying that they are to be returned to the temple from which they were taken”.

Indian officials make attempts to return artifacts of India’s cultural heritage from across the world, with the help of ASI (Archaeological Survey of India), several law enforcement agencies,  and the ministry of external affairs.

In recent years, several antiquities returned to India from various countries including Germany, France, Australia, and the US.

However, many items are still missing.

The high commission in London has so far returned the following idols to India:

- The Bramha- Brahmani sculpture, stolen from the world heritage site Rani-Ki Vav, was returned to the Archaeological Survey of India in 2017. It has found a prominent place in the Purana Quila museum in Delhi.

- On August 15, 2018 a 12th-century bronze statue of Gautam Buddha was restituted to the high commission by the Metropolitan Police.

-  On August 15, 2019, two antiques – a 17th-century bronze idol of Navanitha Krishna and a 2nd-century limestone carved pillar motif was returned to the high commission by the US embassy in London.

-  On July 29, 2020, the Natesha Shiva statue stolen in 1998 from the Ghateshwar temple in Baroli, Rajasthan was repatriated to the ASI.

Written by Conny Waters - AncientPages.com Staff Writer