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Britain’s Oxford University has said that it will return a 500-year-old statue of a Hindu saint to India. This statue is said to be from the 16th century, which was stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu. The 60 cm high statue of Saint Tirumangai is currently kept in the university’s Ashmolean Museum. It was auctioned by Sotheby’s auction house in 1967.
The Indian High Commission in Britain had claimed four years ago about this statue of Saint Tirumangai that it was allegedly stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu, India. The University’s Ashmolean Museum issued a statement saying that the University Council supported the return of the statue in March. The museum said that it bought this statue from Sotheby’s in 1967.
The Ashmolean Museum said that after researching the photo archive, this statue came to light. This statue was installed in a temple in Tamil Nadu in 1957, which was made of bronze. After this, it contacted the Indian High Commission in 2019. The museum said it did not know how collector Dr JR Belmont acquired it.
Oxford University agreed two years ago to return 100 Benin Bronzes to the Nigerian government. These artifacts were looted in 1897 when British forces attacked Benin City. After this attack, the British army stole more than 200 artifacts and sold them all in London.
