Britain's prestigious Oxford University has agreed to return a 500-year-old bronze statue of a saint stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu to India.
A statement issued by the University's Ashmolean Museum said that on March 11, 2024, the Council of Oxford University supported the Indian High Commission's claim to return the 16th-century bronze statue of Saint Tirumankai Alvar from the Ashmolean Museum. The decision will now be sent to the Charity Commission for approval.
The 60 cm high statue of Saint Tirumankai Alvar was acquired by the Ashmolean Museum of the University of Oxford from Sotheby's auction house in 1967 from the collection of a collector named Dr. J.R. Belmont (1886-1981).
The museum says that in November last year, an independent researcher informed it about the origin of this ancient statue, after which it informed the Indian High Commission about it.
The Indian government has made a formal request for the bronze statue, which is believed to have been stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu and ended up in a UK museum through auction.
The museum, which houses some of the world's most famous art and archeological artifacts, says it acquired the statue in 1967 in "good faith".
There have been several instances of Indian artifacts stolen from the UK being restored to India, the most recent being in August last year when a limestone carved statue from Andhra Pradesh and a 17th-century "Navaneet Krishna" bronze statue from Tamil Nadu were handed over to the Indian High Commissioner in the UK following a joint investigation by Scotland Yard's art and antiquities unit.
Vote counting began at 10 am in 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra. However, the result
Attacks against minorities in Bangladesh show no sign of stopping. In the violence that erupted a
Sonam Raghuvanshi, who murdered her husband Raja Raghuvanshi on their honeymoon and threw his bod
‘Dhurandhar 2’ hit theaters on March 19. Since its release, the film has been setting
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selectors may be about to make a major U-turn re
Former international umpire Anil Chaudhary has claimed that the recent controversy surrounding th
A new update has come out regarding the attack on actor Saif Ali Khan. According to the informati
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the pilot of the Axiom-4 space mission for the International Spa
The All India Sant Samiti has also reached the Supreme Court against the Places of Worship Act. T
A bench headed by Chief Justice (CJI) Justice DY Chandrachud on July 18 heard together the petiti
