Prime Minister Narendra Modi received several antiquities, including a a statue of Ganesha stolen from India that were returned to the country by U.S. officials at a repatriation ceremony in Washington D.C. June 6.
Modi received the stolen objects from U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara credited his department for facilitating the return of the several stolen antiquities to India.
Bharara said that the return of an 11th or 12th Century Ganesha along with several other stolen antiquities, was the result of an agreement between his office and the Toledo Museum of Art.
“A decade ago, a valued piece of India’s cultural heritage – a statue of Ganesha – was stolen from an Indian temple and sold in the United States. We are proud to have played a role in returning this treasure to the Indian people, and reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that the United States does not become a marketplace for stolen art and antiquities,” Bharara was quoted saying in a press release. The statue of Ganesha, also known in Tamil Nadu as Vinayagar, is a bronze statue dating from the Chola dynasty period (1080-1150 A.D.). It was stolen from the Sivan temple at Sree Puranthan Village in the Ariyalur District of Tamil Nadu in 2006, and obtained by Subhash Kapoor, an antiquities dealer in Manhattan.
Kapoor has been charged with various offenses by both Indian authorities and the New York County District Attorney’s Office for his alleged involvement in trafficking in stolen antiquities, and is currently awaiting trial in Tamil Nadu. Kapoor sold the Ganesha to the Toledo Museum of Art in 2006.
Working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, Bharara’s office identified the Ganesha as stolen, and contacted the Museum. When presented with the evidence of its illicit origin, the Toledo Museum agreed to turn over the Ganesha to HSI for returning to India.
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