Confirmation
by the National Gallery of Australia that they have been cheated and
have ended up buying a stolen idol of Nataraja, does not really
bring any relief to Villagers in Sripuranthan village in the Tamil
Nadu state in south India. They have been grieved by the the theft of
the 1000-year-old Nataraja idol from the temple in their village,
since last few decades. The main problem here is that for any
possibility of a return, a firm documentary evidence is needed that
the idol was in the village temple after 1970.
UNESCO
approved a convention for the protection of cultural property, on
November 14, 1970, under which the acquisition of antiquities after
1970 makes it illegitimate unless accompanied by an official export
license. Indian authorities therefore can claim the idol back only if
there is some documentary evidence in form of a photograph or a
drawing, which can conclusively prove that the idol was in the
Sripuranthan temple after 1970.
Originally,
when the theft of the idol was reported to the police of Tamil Nadu
state in India, they had nothing to proceed on with the case as not
even a photograph of the idol was available anywhere. But help
arrived from a very unlikely and unusual source, French Institute of
Pondicherry. (FIP)
Français
de Pondichéry or
FIP is a research center run by the French Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and carries out research expertise and training missions in
South and South-East Asia in the fields of Indology, Social Sciences
and Ecology. The photo archives of FIP began to develop in 1956 and
the collection is still being constantly enriched, fulfilling the
will of their founder, Jean Filliozat, to build a database for the
study of religious art in South India. The photo archives of IFP now
contain more than 136,000 photographs and are a unique resource for
visual information about South India in the second half of the
twentieth century, particularly its temple art. This varied
collection has material from the whole of Tamil Nadu (60% of the
images), as well as from many parts of other Southern states of
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. Monuments of major significance
from other parts of India, such as Ajanta and Ellora, are also
represented.
FIP
was more than happy to provide the photograph of Sripuranthan temple
Nataraja idol, which it had in its archives. Idol wing of the Tamil
Nadu state police was able to visually match the photo provided by
FIP with the one exhibited in the National Gallery of Australia
(NGA) in Canberra, which had bought the Nataraja from Kapoor for US $
5 million. Except for this photograph, investigators did not have any
supportive photographic evidence. This evidence from the catalogue of
FIP was enough for investigations but obviously was not enough to
prove that idol still existed in the Sripuranthan temples after 1970
to claim it back under UNESCO convention.
There
has been a lucky break for the police last week. This new evidence is
something to cheer for the villagers in Sripuranthan, who have been
lamenting the theft of the 1000-year-old Nataraja idol from their
temple. The chances for the return of the idol, now displayed in
Australia, appear much brighter now.
Govindarajan
is a 75 year old farmer, who lives in Sripuranthan. Like everyone
else in the village he too was extremely sad about the theft of the
village temple idol but did not know that it has reached Australia.
Like most of the Hindu families in India, Govindarajan too has a
small shrine in his house, where he kepps small replicas or
photographs of the deities that he worships every day. In this
shrine, he had kept a photograph of the Nataraja idol and his
consort, taken about 30 years ago. He has been holding it and
worshiping it with reverence since then. He says: “30 years ago,
during an important festival, the temple organisers brought a
photographer from Kumbakonam and took pictures of the idols.”
He had
subsequently managed to get a copy for his personal shrine and the
photo, nicely framed by him, was kept in his personal shrine. Last
week he came to know that the idol is in Australia and Police need
supportive evidence to strengthen the idol theft case and claim for
return. He realised the importance of the photo held by him and
handed it over to the police. Idol wing of the Tamil Nadu State
confirm that the Nataraja in the photo given to them by Govidarajan
visually matches with the one in NGA Australia. Claiming the idol
back should be an open and shut case, when date of the photograph
taken is confirmed. All the villagers of Sripuranthan now wish that
the idol returns home quickly.
Govidarajan's
photo of the idols, also brings a bonus for the Police as the
photograph also contains an image of the idol of Nataraja's consort,
which was also stolen from the temple along with Nataraja. Search can
start now for whereabouts of this second idol.
(Concluded)
17th
February 2014
p.s.
p.s.
On 21st March, 2014, the Attorney-General’s Department
in Australia received a request from the Government of India under the Protection of
Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986 (PMCH Act) for the return of the
Shiva Nataraja idol,” the statement said. The request states that the statue was exported from India in
contravention of cultural property laws, namely India’s Antiquity and
Art Treasures Act 1972.In response, Australia’s prestigious National
Gallery has removed the USD 5-million statue of Nataraja it had
bought from a tainted Indian-origin antique dealer after a top
minister lashed out at it for failing to check the idol’s
ownership.
27th March 2014
p.s
The nataraja along with $300,000 stone Shiva idol will be handed over to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi by his Australian counterpart, Tony Abbott, on 5th September 2014.
The Australian leader wanted to bring the two idols on his
plane, but both were so heavy that a jumbo aircraft had been
requisitioned.
5th September 2014
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