NEW DELHI: Administrative delay is reportedly holding up the arrival of at least nine antiquities stolen and smuggled out of the country over the decades from foreign countries. Indian authorities abroad have got possession of these articles dating to 8-15th century in the US, UK and Italy a few months ago.
The list of recovered artefacts awaiting repatriation include two quintessential idols 500 years old bronze deity of Lord Hanuman and Avalokiteshwara Padamapani, the statue of Gautam Buddha sculpted sometime between the 8th and 12th centuries, which were scheduled to reach New Delhi around Diwali, said officials of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
“Their (antiquities) return is stuck due to financial issues. For repatriation, payment for insurance, packaging and transportation cost is to be borne by the ASI, which is taking time. As per the plan, they were supposed to reach around Diwali,” said officials.
In February, Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy announced retrieval of the two antiquities — idols of Lord Hanuman and Gautam Buddha. The 14-15th century statue of Lord Hanuman was stolen a decade ago from Tamil Nadu belonging to the Vijayanagar period. The Buddha idol was installed at Devisthan Kundalpur Temple in Bihar and had gone missing more than two decades ago. It was handed over to the Indian consulate in Milan. Vasant Kumar Swarnkar, spokesperson of ASI, “All the formalities from the Indian side have been completed. We are expecting that they will arrive soon.”
The other retrieved artefacts are three carved stone pillar fragments, black chlorite stele of Surya, an inlaid marble pillar, a sandstone relief, and the 14th century ceremonial Indo-Persian serpent sword. All of these articles were received from Glasgow Museum.
According to the ASI, the pillar fragments are from a temple probably from Jagannath Monsoon Mandir located in Behta village of Kanpur, which belongs to the 11th century. They were gifted to the Glasgow Museum in 1874. The black chlorite stele is of 10th century. The inlaid marble pillar was obtained from the ruins of an old palace in Gwalior.
The sandstone relief is a figure of Lord Bhairava carved on a slab. The 14th century sword wavy serpent-shaped blade has a bulbous hilt and serrated edges.
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