This story is from May 25, 2018

Another missing idol shows up at New York museum

Another missing idol shows up at New York museum
The Nataraja idol went missing from the Kailasanathar temple in Thanjavur in 1971
CHENNAI: A beautifully crafted antique Nataraja idol that went missing from the Kailasanathar temple at Punnainallur in Thanjavur in 1971 has been traced to the Asia Society Museum in New York City. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and ministry of external affairs (MEA) are yet to notify the museum officials that the Nataraja was a stolen idol. Carted away along with five other bronze figurines, it was recovered a year later and kept in a strongroom in a nearby Mariamman temple.
In 1973, temple authorities discovered they were all cheap replicas. Investigating the theft as part of an effort to dig up old cases, the state idol wing CID police have instituted a preliminary inquiry under DSP of Vallam in Thanjavur district.
Activists, along with an old temple trustee, with the help of photographs taken by a photo studio in the 1960s, managed to track down the Nataraja idol, with bits from its ring of flames missing, as an exhibit in the museum in New York City. On Wednesday, a team led by idol wing CID IG Pon Manickavel visited the temple and confirmed the theft. An FIR is likely to be registered soon. “As per my information, it could be an inside job,” Pon Manickavel told TOI. In 1974, the Kolkata (then Calcutta) airport officials seized four Nataraja idols and contacted the state Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Department to check their antiquity. “There is evidence of correspondence between the Kolkata airport and the HR & CE. But, the four bronze idols were allowed to leave the country,” said Pon Manickavel. It is now suspected that one of the Natarajas could well have been the one stolen from the Kailasanathar temple.
The ASI and the MEA should act immediately to stake claim and ensure that the bronze does not go underground or leave the country, said heritage activist S Vijaykumar, who helped spot the rare bronze in the South Asia Museum. “All the credit goes to a former temple trustee for managing to find two photographs taken by a Thanjavur photo studio in the early 1960s,” said Vijaykumar. The bronze idols include a Nataraja and Uma and a Pradoshamurthy.
“Asia Society has been funding and lobbying world over for dilution of our Antiquity Act, which for us is already toothless,” said Vijaykumar, who is based in Singapore.
“The idol wing police should lodge a fresh FIR if they can’t find the old case details,” said Vijaykumar. The ASI Delhi or the MEA should immediately send a letter rogatory to the US consulate to ensure that the Nataraja is “seized today”, he said. “Otherwise, it will go underground or to a private collector or go out of America. I hope we do today what we didn’t do 40 years ago to get back this beautiful Nataraja and also start investigating what happened to the rest of the bronze idols.”
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