Priya
Share
New Delhi. Britain's prestigious Oxford University has agreed to return to India a 500-year-old bronze statue of a saint stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu.
A statement issued by the university's Ashmolean Museum said that on March 11, 2024, the Council of the University of Oxford supported the Indian High Commission's claim to return the 16th century bronze statue of Saint Tirumankai Alvar from the Ashmolean Museum. The decision will now be sent to the Charity Commission for approval.
The 60 cm high statue of Saint Tirumankai Alvar was acquired by the Ashmolean Museum of the University of Oxford from Sotheby's auction house in 1967 from the collection of a collector named Dr. J.R. Belmont (1886-1981).
The museum said it had informed the Indian High Commission about the origin of the ancient statue after an independent researcher tipped it off in November last year.
The Indian government made a formal request for the bronze statue, which is believed to have been stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu and ended up in a museum in Britain through an auction.
The museum, which houses some of the world's most famous art and archeological artefacts, says it acquired the statue in 1967 "in good faith".
There have been several instances of Indian artefacts stolen from the UK being restored to India, the most recent being in August last year, when a limestone carved statue from Andhra Pradesh and a 17th century “Navaneet Krishna” bronze statue from Tamil Nadu were handed over to the Indian High Commissioner in the UK following a joint investigation by Scotland Yard’s Art and Antiquities Unit.
--Advertisement--
