The Australian National Gallery in Canberra has now accepted claims from India, that one of the items in their collection is a looted temple idol from the province of Tamil Nadu.

A legal notice was submitted by India on March 26th & the gallery chose not to contest it, meaning that it is automatically handed over by the Gallery to the Australian government. Hopefully this will be the start of a hasty return of it to India.

This is a marked change since last year, where the gallery publicly refuted all claims that the Dancing Shiva idol might be looted.

The idol is central to investigations into rogue dealer Subhash Kapoor, who is awaiting trial in India & subject to investigations within the USA.

Dancing Shiva idol at the National Gallery of Australia

From:
The Hindu

Canberra gallery gives up claim on stolen idol
NIRUPAMA SUBRAMANIAN
Updated: April 30, 2014 01:20 IST

The National Gallery of Australia has surrendered to the Indian claim that a Chola-era Nataraja that it acquired for (A) $5.6 million had indeed been stolen from a village temple in Tamil Nadu, paving the way for an early return of the idol to India.

The NGA, Australia’s foremost art institution located in the national capital of Canberra, had 30 days to claim its ownership of the imposing bronze Nataraja after receiving a notice from the Australian Attorney General’s Department under the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986. That deadline expired on April 26.
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More coverage of the artefacts returned to Afghanistan, after being seized in the UK.

From:
The Hindu

U.K. returns artefacts to Afghanistan
LONDON, July 20, 2012
Hasan Suroor

More than 800 historic artefacts — stolen from museums in Afghanistan some 20 years ago and smuggled abroad — have been returned to Kabul with help from the British Museum.

They include: a rare sculpture of Buddha, pieces of the Begram Ivories dating back to the 1st century B.C., Bronze Age carvings and medieval Islamic coins.
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India, like many countries has suffered heavily, both in the past & in modern times, from looting of its ancient heritage for profit by art dealers, who sell it on to private collections. In recent years however, they have started to make more efforts to put a stop to this trade – culminating in the arrest of dealer Subhash Chandra Kapoor in Germany & his subsequent extradition to India to face charges. Kapoor is accused of smuggling eighteen 18 temple idols from Tamil Nadu.

Intriguingly, the article refers to an artefact in the British Museum – that was returned to India, following a legal case. It does not elaborate on how this was possible however, as it appears that such actions would be in conflict with the anti-deaccessioning terms in the British Museum act, unless there are other relevant points to the case that have not been mentioned.

From:
The Hindu

CHENNAI, July 15, 2012
The murky trail of stolen antiquities
A. Srivathsan

When antique dealer Subhash Chandra Kapoor, 61, arrested in Germany and extradited to India for his alleged role in spiriting away 18 temple idols from Tamil Nadu, was produced before the Ariyalur court on Saturday, it marked the second most sensational development of its kind in the country. It also pointed once again to the inscrutable ways of the idol-smugglers and their ruthlessly creative potential.

The trail of the biggest such racket revealed so far was traced back to Jaipur. In July 2003, after a year-long surveillance, the police arrested Vaman Narayan Ghiya, the owner of a handicrafts shop in the Rajastan capital. His shop was only a front; in reality it was a hub of illicit trading in antiquities.
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Although it only has the Cyrus Cylinder on a short term loan, there are hopes in by some in Iran that it will be registered (by Iran) as an Iranian artefact, emphasising the fact that although it may not be kept in the country, it still belongs to them.

From:
Tehran Times

September 21, 2010
Iranian society calls for national registration of Cyrus Cylinder
Tehran Times Culture Desk

The Iranian Society of Architecture Luminaries has proposed that Iran register the Cyrus Cylinder on the National Cultural Heritage List.

“We should seize this opportunity caused by the arrival of the Cyrus Cylinder in the country to register it on the list,” society director Alireza Qahhari told the Persian service of the Mehr News Agency on Monday.
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Despite what press coverage may imply, the Indian Government has stated that (for whatever reasons) it is not trying to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond to India. The people of India may be asking for the return of this (& other artefacts), but clearly the government would prefer not to be involved. The statement by the government may be for diplomatic reasons as they do not want to enter into an argument with Britain, or it could be that they see it as campaign that unfortunately has little chance of success.

From:
The Hindu

New Delhi, August 18, 2010
No plans to bring back the Kohinoor: Centre

Demands from several quarters for the return of the Kohinoor from Britain notwithstanding, the government on Wednesday said it has no plans to bring the precious diamond back to the country.

It also said it was not contemplating to bring the Peacock Throne from Iran as these items are not covered under the UNESCO convention that deals with restitution of cultural property.
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India was unsuccessful in preventing the sale of Mahatma Gandhi’s glasses. They have taken a stance though by making it clear that they will not be held to ransom over cultural property issues.

From:
The Hindu

Who owns antiquity?
A. SRIVATHSAN

The world of antiquities is a murky and complex one where ownership is a contested space. Many Indian sculptures (and pieces of architecture) of immense historical value are still languishing in Western museums. In this context, it was naïve to expect Gandhi’s memorabilia to be returned voluntarily.

What do we make of it when a pair of old glasses, sandals and a small bowl is worth Rs.10 crore? Probably, partly in irritation and partly in disbelief, we can tweak Adorno’s phrase and declare that things concerning antiquities are not self-ev ident. The will to spend extraordinary money was led by the emotive potential it has or is imagined to have. When Gandhi’s memorabilia surfaced in the auction house, emotional appeal and ultra nationalist sentiments coalesced and the bidding mutated into a proxy fight for pride.
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