The 52-cm tall idol belonging to the Chola period was stolen in May 1979 from the Nadanapureshwarar Sivan Temple at Thandanthottam, Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu. Officials from the CID Idol Wing are now preparing the paperwork to bring back the artefact from Bonhams auction house in New York
The copper-alloy Goddess Parvati idol of the Chola period measures about 52 cm in height. The idol is valued at US$ 2,12,575 (about Rs 1.68 crore). Image Courtesy: @jayantimuraliips/Twitter
An idol, which was reported stolen in 1971, has finally been found — all the way in New York!
Thanks to the untiring efforts of the Tamil Nadu Idol Wing Criminal Investigation Department (CID), an idol of Goddess Parvati, which went missing from the Nadanapureshwarar Sivan Temple at Thandanthottam, Kumbakonam, half a century ago, was traced to New York’s Bonhams Auction House.
Here’s all we know about the stolen idol and how the CID manage to trace it back to Bonham auction house.
All about the idol
The Parvati idol dates back to the Chola period circa 12th century and is made of copper-alloy.
The idol measures about 52 cm in height and is valued at US$ 212,575 (about Rs 1.68 crore).
Parvati or Uma as the goddess is commonly known in South India is portrayed in a standing position. She is seen wearing a crown, called a karanda mukuta of piled rings diminishing in size and culminating in a lotus bud.
The patterns in the crown are repeated in the necklaces, armbands, girdle, and garment, embellishing the bronze texture.
“The sculpture is a testament to the technical genius of the artist, epitomising the confident and time-honoured aesthetic canon of the Chola empire. Following Sivaramamurti’s stylistic chronology, the figure exemplifies the mature Chola style of the 12th century,” the release from the idol wing stated.
Lost and found
As per the CID Idol wing, the idol was first stolen from Nadanapureshwarar Sivan temple in Thandanthottam on 12 May 1971. A complaint was filed a day later, but no action was taken on it.
However, in 2019, an individual named K Vasu approached the local police and lodged the complaint. As per the complaint, K Vasu, a temple trustee, said he had seen five idols when they were in the temple for public worship and did not see them after 1971. He gave details about the names and dimensions of each of these five stolen idols.
In his complaint, he further added that he had noticed the locks of the temple broken on the night of the offence. “The then sub-inspector visited the temple, but did not register any complaint. This is painful and most unfortunate,” said Vasu in his 2019 complaint.
Idol Wing Inspector M Chitra then took up the investigation, and started looking for the Parvati idols from the Chola period in various museums and auction houses abroad.
When the search began, the officials managed to dip into the archives of the French Institute of Pondicherry (FIP), which had images of the stolen idol.
The Idol wing then sought the help of an expert in the matter. They used the image that they received from FIP and compared it to the one in Bonhams.
“As per the opinion of the expert who served as Deputy Superintending Archaeologist in the State, the photograph of the idol at French Institute of Pondicherry and the idol of Parvati on sale at Bonhams auction place were the same. This meant that the Parvati idol at Bonhams belonged to Nadanapureshwarar Sivan temple in Thandanthottam near Kumbakonam,” Director General of Police, Idol Wing CID, K Jayanth Murali was quoted as telling The Hindu.
The Idol wing is now preparing to bring the statue back home and has readied the necessary papers. “The Idols wing hopes to retrieve the idol and restore it to the Nadanapureshwarar Sivan Temple in Thandanthottam, Kumbakonam under the UNESCO treaty soon,” Murali added.
Also read: Idol trackers: How stolen treasures are hunted down and brought back to India
Bringing stolen artefacts back
In the past few years, the Centre has stepped up its efforts in the recovery and restitution of artefacts.
In 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought back 157 stolen Indian antiquities from the United States. The list of 157 artefacts included a diverse set of items ranging from the one-and-a-half metre bas relief panel of Revanta in sandstone of the 10th CE to the 8.5-cm tall, exquisite bronze Nataraja from the 12th CE.
The cultural treasures brought home by Prime Minister Modi were related to Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
In 2016 too, over 200 stolen artefacts worth $200 million were handed over to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the US authorities. The items returned include statues, bronzes and terracotta pieces, some dating back 2,000 years, looted from some of India’s biggest temples. Among the pieces returned was a statue of Saint Manikkavichavakar, a Hindu mystic and poet from the Chola period (circa 850 AD to 1250 AD) stolen from the Sivan Temple in Chennai. It is valued at an estimated $1.5 million. There was also a 11th Century bronze of Ganesh.
With inputs from agencies
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