India repatriates historic temple bronzes from US

Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Wednesday said that India has successfully repatriated Chola-period and other significant bronze artefacts from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in the United States. Addressing a press conference at the National Museum in New Delhi, the Shekhawat described the repatriation as a significant milestone in India’s ongoing efforts to bring back stolen cultural treasures and strengthen ethical museum practices globally. He said antiquities are not merely artistic objects but embodiments of India’s spiritual traditions, historical continuity, and civilisational memory, adding that illicit trafficking over the decades had deprived the country of several invaluable cultural assets.
The minister also informed that since 2014, India has successfully repatriated 666 antiquities from various countries, including 653 since 2014 alone, through sustained diplomatic, legal and institutional efforts led by the Ministry of Culture, the ASI, Indian missions abroad and enforcement agencies. Recently, 11 rare artifacts from Australia have been received by India. The Smithsonian Institution in the United States has also announced the return of important bronze sculptures associated with temples in Tamil Nadu. Historical sculptures such as Somaszkanda and Saint Sundarar with Paravai have already returned to India, while the Chola-era Shiva Nataraja sculpture will also be brought back home after the exhibition, he said. 

The identified antiquities include:
-Saint Sundarar with Paravai sculpture (16th century, Vijayanagara period): photographed in 1956 at the Shiva Temple in Veerasolapuram village, Tamil Nadu.
-Somaskanda (Shiva and Uma) (12th century, Chola period): photographed in 1959 at the Visvanatha Temple in Alattur village, Tamil Nadu.
-Shiva Nataraja (Chola period, circa 990 CE): originally belonging to the Sri Bhava Aushadesvara Temple in Thanjavur district and photographed there in 1957.
The Somaskanda and Saint Sundarar with Paravai bronzes arrived in New Delhi on 12 May, while the Shiva Nataraja will be repatriated after its scheduled display in the exhibition “The Art of Knowing in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayas.”