Stolen Hanuman idol auctioned in Christie’s in New York to be back in TN

A 500-year- old Hanuman idol stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu, auctioned at Chirstie’s in New York and acquired by a person in Australia, has been returned to India by Australian authorities on Tuesday.

At the Indian High Commission, Canberra, Australia, Australian Chargé d'Affaires Michael Goldman returned the 500-year old stolen Indian statue to Indian High Commissioner, Manpreet Vohra, a press release said. The Anjeneyar idol, which has traveled around the world, is expected to return to the temple in Ariyalur within a month’s time.

The idol was burgled from Varadharaju Perumal temple, Velur village, Ariyalur on the night of 9 April 2012. It was ADSP  Rajaram, while browsing the website of www.christy.com, came across the stolen idol of the Hanuman in the aforesaid website. The idol's image was downloaded and sent to the French Institute of Pondicherry. The Institute authorities, after careful examination, confirmed that the stolen idol matched with the idol auctioned by Christie's. Subsequently, for further confirmation, the image was sent to Nagasamy, Special Officer and In charge Director, Archaeological Survey of India, requesting an expert opinion. Experts who examined the idols confirmed it as a stolen Hanuman. 

Tamil Nadu Idol Wing initiated Mutual Legal Assistance for Repatriation of the stolen antique idol from Australia with the assistance of US Homeland Security. The model was reportedly sold in Christie's auction for USD 37,500.

 Christie's Auction House and the buyer in Australia were initially unaware of the statue's stolen origins. But, after being alerted by the Tamil Nadu Idol wing, Australian authorities cooperated fully with the US Homeland Security and India’s law enforcement agencies to recover the stolen artefact. The Chargé d'Affaires of Australia while handing over the stolen idol expressed his appreciation to the  US Department of Homeland Security and Indian law enforcement agents for their recovery of the looted idol and cooperation to fight illegal trade in cultural artefacts.