UK Returns Stolen Idols

India is all ready for getting back the 15th Century statues of Lord Ram, Lakshman and Sita from UK after 42 years. The three statues had been stolen from a Tamil Nadu Temple in 1978. The temple had been built during the Vijayanagar period a period that witnessed a constant rise of the Vijayanagar Empire among which King Krishna Dev Raya from the Tuluva dynasty was the most prominent.
The southern empire or the Vijayanagar empire was well known for its town planning, facilities for Agriculture and irrigation. One of the most striking features of this empire was that all its development was done with a careful architectural plan that strictly followed the pattern of the walled city. All the agriculture fields, irrigation channels, the Royal family’s quarters were all separated from each other by carefully built walls. Besides, this the Kings of Vijayanagar were great temple builders

The above image shows a glimpse of medieval Vijayanagar the image is a testimony to the intricate town planning that the rulers of Vijayanagar would have to undertake.

In 2014 two Singapore based NRIs, art enthusiasts S Vijay Kumar and Anurag Saxena jointly founded the India Pride Project (IPP) a group of art enthusiasts who use social media for identifying stolen religious artefacts from Indian temples which are sold in abroad. The group plans and executes the return of the artefacts to India. The group started functioning in 2014 as of 2020 has activists from all over the world.
In August, 2019 the India Pride Project informed the Indian High Commission in London that 4 antique idols of Shri Ram, Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman, stolen from Tamil Nadu, India might be in UK.
The Indian Mission from this information raised the matter with the Art and Antique Unit of the London’s Metropolitan Police and the Idol wing of the Tamil Nadu Police. The Tamil Nadu Police sent a comprehensive report which confirmed that the theft of the idols had taken place in 1978 and also provided the expert opinion along with a archive photo that matched with the artefacts.
The London Metropolitan Police after investigating the matter contacted the owner of the statues and presented the request of the Indian High Commission’s request to return the statue as they were stolen from a “living temple” in India.
In its investigation the Metropolitan Police held the owner not guilty as he had bought the artefacts in a good faith even including a verification check of the Art Loss Register Certificates.

However, the vendor responsible for the sale is now deceased which gave the Metropolitan Police no legal grounds for opening a probe in this regard.
The owner of the Lord Ram was also found to be in possession of two more idols of Sita and Lakshman. All the three idols were handed over to the High Commissioner. The High Commissioner has initiated the process of transferring the idols to Tamil Nadu Government.
The Indian High Commission in a statement issued had said “HCI is working on many such cases at present. We are confident that in coming days, with this partnership of the ASI, law enforcement agencies, and the independent experts, we will be successful in returning many more pieces of our cultural heritage to India.”
The Indian High Commission in the past has been very successful in finding and transferring sculptures and idols to India. In a statement issued by the Indian High Commission it said “HCI is working on many such cases at present. We are confident that in coming days, with this partnership of the ASI, law enforcement agencies, and the independent experts, we will be successful in returning many more pieces of our cultural heritage to India.”
The Indian High Commission in the past has been successful in retrieving the Brahma- Brahmani sculpture which was stolen from the World heritage site Rani-Ki Vav, 12th Century Bronze statue of Buddha, two antiques – a 17th Century Bronze idol of Navanitha Krishna and a 2nd-century limestone Carved Pillar motif.

Earlier this year the mission had been successful in sending back the Shiva statue which had been stolen from the Ghateshwar temple in Baroli, Rajasthan.
May many more stolen artefacts come back to India. May the Indian High Commission and the India Pride Project continue this amazing work of Bringing our Gods Home