STOLEN ‘DANCING KRISHNA’ TRACED TO US

RAMANATHAPURAM: The state idol wing CID has traced a Chola-era idol in a dancing pose, stolen in 1966 from a Rameswaram temple, to the Indianapolis Museum of Art in the US. Efforts are now underway to retrieve and restore it to the temple. An official release said, on November 23, G Narayani, executive officer of the Arulmigu Vettudaiyar Thirukovil in Sivaganga district, submitted a complaint, stating that three or more idols, including an antique Krishna idol, belonging to the Arulmigu Ekantha Ramasamy Temple at Thangachimadam village in Rameswaram and dating back to 13th CCE, had been stolen in the year 1966. The temple, from where the idol was stolen is a satellite temple of the Arulmigu Ramanathaswamy Temple, located 5km away. A request was sent to the French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP) to provide the stock images of the idols from their archives. It was found that the Rameswaram temple had 12 metal idols in the year 1958 and in the year 2012, the temple priest had handed over six metal idols to HR & CE officials. Subsequently, the six remaining idols, including the ‘Dancing’ Krishna, were stolen. During the investigation, while combing through the various websites of museums in the world, the idol of ‘Dancing’ Krishna, similar to the IFP image, was found displayed on the Indianapolis Museum of Art website. An expert gave an opinion that the two photos of the ‘Dancing’ Krishna were the same. The idol had gone missing from the temple in 1966 and was later purchased by the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
The idols wing CID is now making efforts to trace the remaining five idols which were stolen.

India Pride Project co-founder S Vijay Kumar said in the last four years, several thefts of bronze icons from TN temples, which had gone unreported or closed as ‘idols not found’, have been dug up. “Many of them were between 1955 and 1968 and crucially before the 1970 UN convention, but within India’s own patrimony laws,” said Vijay Kumar. “So far, the US museums have refused to restitute such cases as they misunderstand the 1970 convention. We hope the idol wing and the Union government weigh in on this and ensure the idols are returned,” he added. Meanwhile, documentary proof has been prepared, claiming ownership of the ‘Dancing’ Krishna idol and is being submitted to U.S. authorities to retrieve and restore it to the Rameswaram temple. DGP- idol wing K Jayanth Murali lauded the team for tracing the idol.

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