Looted Hindu treasure returned back to India
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New Delhi, Sept 16 : Three statues of Shri Ram, Lakshman and Sita respectively have been returned back to India on Sept 15 ( Tuesday), which were believed to have been stolen from a Thanjavur temple in 1978. The Nagapattinam temple was an early medieval Vijayanagara period temple and is believed to be the sacred abode of these idols. The figurines are composed of bronze and measure 3 feet tall. The legitimate revival of these idols was confirmed by the Union Minister of Culture and Tourism Pralhad Singh Patel.
The operation for the revival of the historic treasure of the country was being carried out by High Commission of India ( HCI ), London assisted by the London Metropolitan Police. The investigation has been in progress from August 2019 when India Pride Project, a group that works in UK to identify such Indian stolen idols and secure their comeback to India, had informed the HCI about 4 antique idols of Shri Ram, Lakshman, Sita and Hanuman being stolen from India and possibly to be traced down in the UK. The efforts initiated by the group are significant as they brought the theft in picture by putting it forth the Art and Antique's department of the London Metropolitan Police as well as the Idol wing of the Tamil Nadu Police.
After rounds of investigation, the idols were traced to an Art collector, who was unaware of the background of the artifacts. Since the vendor who was responsible for selling the idols has been deceased, it led to a wash out of the background of the idols. The art collector was found innocent as he had checked the Art Loss Register Certificate before buying them. After the completion of a systematic investigation, the idols were returned back officially to the Union Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Tuesday.
@HCI_Londonभारतीयदूतावास द्वारा विजयनगर काल तमिलनाडु की ४०वर्ष पूर्व चोरी गई श्रीराम,लक्ष्मण एवं माता सीता की ३फुट ऊँची कांस्य प्रतिमाओं को भारत को सौंपा,ज्ञात होआजादीके बाद आये कुल५६ मे से प्रधानमंत्री @narendramodi के नेतृत्व के बाद ४३पुराशेष वापिस लाये गये @PMOIndia @JPNadda pic.twitter.com/L2gXYtOJdh
— Prahlad Singh Patel (@prahladspatel) September 15, 2020
It is remarkable that 56 such idols and sculptures have been returned back to India from the UK until now, among which 43 have been brought back under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi. Later in a tweet, Union minister Prahlad Singh Patel also acknowledged the role of Archaeological Survey of India ( ASI ) in the whole process. The ASI along with HCI is currently equipped with several such projects to retrieve the lost treasure of India. People may witness more of such news in coming days.