From ancient India to a New York auction house, unfinished journey of the Parvati statue

An idol of Goddess Parvati belonging to the Nandanapureshwarar Sivan temple in the Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu, was traced to the Bonhams auction house in New York. The Idol Wing of the Crime Investigation Department of Tamil Nadu, revealed its findings on the 8th of August.

The statue, nearly 2 feet long, made of a Copper alloy, belongs to the Chola time period. Its present day value is estimated to be at Rs. 1.7 crores. The Chola empire prominently lasted from about 850 CE to 1279 CE. The Cholas were Shaivite rulers who ruled over most of modern day Tamil Nadu, parts of Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala.

The discovery was made by Idol Wing inspector M. Chitra who traced it to New York after extensively going through idols of Goddess Parvati, which were listed for sale or display, across the world in museums and in artefact galleries. The discovery of the idol comes amid an extensive spate of such discoveries of ancient and mediaeval artwork stolen from India. In June 2022, 10 idols were returned to Tamil Nadu by the Centre after the stolen artefacts were traced and retrieved from various auction houses and museums from across the world. Along with Egypt and Italy, India is the leading country from where ancient cultural artefacts are stolen. 

According to a 2013 CAG report, on “Preservation and Conservation of Monuments and Antiquities”, it was estimated that 131 items of antiquity were stolen from monuments and 37 antiquities from site museums from 1981 to 2012 alone. NCRB data indicates that between 2008 and 2012, a total of 4,408 items were recorded as stolen from 3,676 ASI­-protected monuments across India, but only the police could intercept only 1,493 of these stolen data. According to more recent data, a 2018 government audit revealed that 4,408 items were stolen from 3,676 protected monuments across India between 1992 and 2017. Some experts also indicate that around 1,000 pieces of artwork were stolen from India every year for sale in the international market.

India is a signatory of the United Nation on Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, 1970. The convention aims to prohibit stealing and illicit trading and transfer of cultural properties of a country. Article 5 of the Convention calls upon signatory countries to set up authorities which actively prevent such loot and drain of objects of cultural importance. The call has been growing within India, to institute such a body with investigative and law enforcement powers.

Tamil Nadu has one of the most ancient and rich temple networks in the country, having played host to major kingdoms which patronised Hindu gods. Thanjavur, also known as Tanjore has been one of the major cities of ancient and mediaeval Tamil Nadu, and served as the cultural capitals of, most notably the Pallavas and the Cholas. Other cities include Kanchipuram and Madurai, which have a plethora of ancient temples which have reported such stolen artwork over the years.

The exact route which the Parvati statue took, to end up at a New York auction house is still being determined and being investigated, as the Idol Wing is working on the requisite paperwork to bring back the statue. The Parvati statue is among seven idols which were stolen from Tamil Nadu from 1971 to 1972. The Bonhams auction house has still to issue a formal statement on the matter.

UNESCO estimates that in the 1980s alone, half a lakh art objects were smuggled out of India. The Prime Minister in his Mann Ki Baat address in February, said that over 200 precious idols of cultural importance were brought back to India since 2014. Though the fight to recover stolen works of Indian cultural heritage will continue, it will perhaps never be brought to its logical conclusion until the most famous of stolen Indian cultural artefacts, the Kohinoor diamond, is returned to India. Over monetary value, the testament to our cultural richness is projected and preserved through these articles. A repatriation of the Nandanapureshwarar Sivan temple Parvati statue is just the beginning of this huge exercise.