Australian museum returns three objects of Indian antiquity

The Government of India has been working with various nations to repatriate Indian cultural wealth that been illegally exported and later found to surface in other countries, including UK, US and Australia.

The National Gallery of Australia agreed to send back three such objects after those were examined by Indian experts and found to be genuine, the MEA said.

The objects are a stone image of Pratyangira from Tamil Nadu, a marble stele (upright stone slab) from Andhra Pradesh showing devotees of Buddha, and a stone image of the Buddha from the Mathura region.

The Pratyangira image, made of grey-coloured granite stone, is said to be an example of later Chola art dating back to circa 13th century. The image, a Tantric deity, a female version of the god Narasimha, was being worshipped at the Vriddhachalam Temple near Chennai before it was stolen. This image, being a case property of Tamil Nadu Police, will be returned to them after the exhibition.

The marble stele is said to be an example of the Andhra School of sculpture and is said to be date back to the third century AD, when the Satvahanas ruled. According to the MEA note, the piece was unearthed in the 1970s during the excavation of a Buddhist Stupa in Chandavaram, Andhra Pradesh.

The red sandstone image of a seated Buddha in the Abhaya Mudra pose is believed to date back to the early Kushana Period or the last quarter of First Century AD. 

The antiquities, which reached India in December 2016 are now kept at the Central Antiquities Collection in Purana Qila, New Delhi.

Images: MEA