US returns stolen antiques worth Rs 1.5 crores including bronze Shiva Nataraja to India

In a significant development between India-US, the latter on Thursday returned century-old stolen 248 antiques worth Rs 1.5 crores ($15 million) including 12th-century bronze Shiva Nataraja to India. According to a PTI report, this has been described as the “largest” transfer of antiquities to the country. The transfer was made during a repatriation ceremony attended by India Consul General Randhir Jaiswal and US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Deputy Special Agent in Charge Erik Rosenblatt.

The artifacts were recovered by the US from five different criminal investigations, said Manhattan District Attorney. 

“This extraordinary assemblage of artifacts, recovered from five different criminal investigations over the past decade, embodies the timeless cultural and cosmic bridge between ancient and modern-day India,” Manhattan District Attorney (DA) Cy Vance, Jr said in a statement.

Speaking further on the matter, Vance condemned the crime of 'marauding' of sacred temples by individuals in pursuit of profit which is not only against a country’s heritage but also its present and future. Among the items returned, 235 were seized pursuant to the investigation of jailed art dealer Subhash Kapoor.

India expresses gratitude to US for the return

Expressing gratitude, India Consul General Randhir Jaiswal asserted, "we look forward to our continued engagement to strengthen cultural ties between India and the United States."

PM Modi brings 157 unique 11th-century Indian antiquities from the US

Earlier, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on his visit to the US he had brought back 157 artifacts & antiquities returned by the US. On the country's warm gesture, PM Modi had conveyed deep appreciation for the repatriation of antiquities to India. Both the Prime Minister and President Biden had made a commitment to work towards strengthening their efforts to combat theft, illicit trade & trafficking of cultural objects when the transfer was being carried out.

Additionally, Republic sources had informed that the items largely belonged to 11th & 14th CE. Several historic antiquities like a copper anthropomorphic object of 2000BC and terracotta vase from 2nd CE were a part of the items returned. The returning package also consists of 45 antiquities belonging to Before Common Era.  

(With PTI inputs)