A 500-year-old idol of Lord Hanuman that was stolen a decade ago from Tamil Nadu and smuggled abroad will be brought back soon.
The statue, which was built sometime between the 14th and 15th century to the Vijayanagara period, was recently found in possession of a private buyer in Australia.
“Five hundred-year-old Lord Hanuman bronze idol stolen from Tamil Nadu temple, to be repatriated back to India. The stolen idol retrieved by US Homeland Security was handed over to @HCICanberra by US CDA,” the minister said in a tweet.
On Tuesday, it was returned to Indian High Commissioner Manpreet Vohra at Canberra by Australian Chargé d’Affaires Michael Goldman.
Here is everything you need to know about the statue and other such instances when antique artefacts were brought back to India:
The idol of Lord Hanuman was burgled from the Varadharaja Perumal temple in Vellur village in Ariyalur district on 9 April, 2012.
Two more idols of Sri Devi and Boodevi were also stolen from the temple on the same day.
According to the Indian Express, in March 2014, the idol was auctioned by Christie’s for $37,500 to a buyer in Australia.
Upon discovery and subsequent investigation, it was found to be the same idol that was stolen from India. The Tamil Nadu Police’s Idol Wing was assisted in the case by US Homeland Security.
The report said that the auction house and the buyer were unaware that the idol was stolen.
