India Pushes For Return Of Smuggled Idols At BRICS Culture Summit

India will push for the repatriation of stolen and smuggled idols, sculptures and cultural artefacts during the Third BRICS Culture Working Group Meeting and BRICS Culture Ministers Meeting being held in Bhopal. The issue is expected to be a key part of discussions during the four-day cultural gathering, which began on Wednesday.

Vivek Agrawal, Secretary in the Union Ministry of Culture, said India has successfully brought back 650 stolen idols, sculptures and heritage artefacts from various countries since 2014. He highlighted that before 2014, only 13 such cultural objects had been repatriated, marking a significant increase in efforts to recover India’s heritage items from abroad.

Agrawal said recent repatriations include rare stone and bronze sculptures of Hindu and Buddhist deities from the United States. He also mentioned Australia’s decision to return three ancient Indian artefacts, including the Bhadrakali Trident, Granite Nandi idol and the six-headed Skand-Kartikheya idol, which are believed to have been stolen from temples in Tamil Nadu and were housed at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.

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The Union Culture Ministry official said the matter of returning stolen or illegally transported antiquities will be discussed during the BRICS Culture Working Group meeting on August 5-6, followed by the BRICS Culture Ministers Meeting on August 7-8. Delegations from 10 of the 11 full BRICS member countries are expected to participate in the discussions in Bhopal.

The proposed repatriation of the Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati) idol from the British Museum in London is also among the key heritage recovery efforts being pursued by India. Agrawal said the ministry has been working through diplomatic channels and discussions with relevant authorities in the United Kingdom to facilitate the return of the 11th-century marble idol, which was removed from the Bhojshala complex in Dhar during the colonial period.

Apart from cultural artefact repatriation, the BRICS meetings will also discuss cooperation in areas such as creating a common database of artists and creative groups, promoting cultural exchanges, improving documentation of manuscripts and archaeological resources, and supporting joint nominations of cultural heritage sites and traditions to UNESCO. The meeting aims to strengthen cultural collaboration among BRICS nations.

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