Stolen 16th-Century Idol Repatriated From UK Presented to CM at Secretariat

An antique 16th-century bronze idol of Thirumangai Alwar, repatriated from the Ashmolean Museum in the United Kingdom nearly half a century after being stolen, was presented before Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay at the Secretariat in Chennai on Tuesday.

Director General of Police Mahesh Kumar Agarwal and Additional Director General of Police (Idol Wing CID) D Kalpana Naik presented the 60 cm tall bronze sculpture to the Chief Minister. The idol had been brought back to Tamil Nadu on August 16 following coordinated repatriation efforts.

The idol, depicting one of the 12 poet-saints of the Vaishnavite tradition, was stolen from the Soundararajaperumal temple near Kumbakonam between 1967 and 1967. Temple authorities lodged an official complaint regarding the missing idol, along with three other idols—Kalinganarthanar Krishna, Vishnu, and Sri Devi—on February 12, 2020.

Following the complaint, the State Idol Wing CID initiated an investigation that tracked the Thirumangai Alwar idol to Oxford University's Ashmolean Museum. The museum had acquired the idol in good faith at a Sotheby’s auction in 1967 from J R Belmont, a private collector from Switzerland who had spent time in India during the 1950s.

To facilitate the repatriation, the Idol Wing CID submitted evidence confirming the idol’s provenance to the Ashmolean Museum and worked alongside the Union Ministries of Home, External Affairs, and Culture, as well as the Department of Archaeology. The sculpture was officially handed over to Indian authorities on March 3 during an event held at the Indian High Commission in London.

The Idol Wing CID also traced the remaining three missing idols to locations in the United States: the Kalinganarthanar Krishna idol at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, the Sri Devi idol at the Florida Hill Auction Gallery, and the Vishnu idol at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.

State officials confirmed that once all pending legal formalities are completed, the Thirumangai Alwar idol will be installed at the temple in Thadikombu.