NEW DELHI: Two significant Indian temple bronze artefacts, including a Chola period antiquity, have been repatriated to the country from the Smithsonian Institution in the US, Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat announced here on Wednesday.
At a press conference held at the National Museum, he said India has secured the ownership of another Chola bronze artefact -- Shiva Nataraja, which belonged to Sri Bhava Aushadesvara Temple in Tamil Nadu’s Tanjavur district -after rigorous research and documentation to prove its provenance. It will be repatriated to India later after its display at an exhibition in the US.
“The two bronzes -- Saint Sundarar with Paravai of the 16th-century Vijaynagara period and Somaskanda (Shiva and Uma) of the 12th-century Chola period — were brought home late on Tuesday night from the US. This takes the total number of antiquities repatriated to India from various countries so far to 668, including 653 since 2014,” Minister Shekhawat told reporters.
The two bronze artefacts, along with 11 other antiquities recently repatriated from Australia and received through the Indian High Commission there, were displayed at the foyer of the National Museum facing its auditorium.
In a statement, the culture ministry said the three “sacred temple bronzes, originally from Tamil Nadu, had been illicitly removed from India in the mid-20th century, and subsequently housed abroad”.
“Besides these 668 antiquities that have been repatriated, 657 art objects of Indian origin were recently handed over by the US law enforcement agencies to the Indian Embassy in the US. An approval has been granted to our embassy in the US for their packaging, handling and transportation. These objects are expected to be received in India in the near future,” the minister said.
The minister said the Chola bronze ‘Shiva Nataraja’ has been “loaned for a period of three years” to the Smithsonian Institution and, after its display at an exhibition — The Art of Knowing in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayas — will be returned to India.