CHENNAI, INDIA, April 13, 2022 (WION News): Three Hindu Deity statues worth millions have been seized in India’s Puducherry. Estimated to be over 600 years old (from the transition period of Chola and Vijayanagara dynasty), the statues are suspected to have been stolen from Hindu temples, before 1980. The statues depicting Nataraja, Veendhara Siva and Vishnu are said to have previously been in the possession of the late Joseph Colombani of Puducherry. However, no legal documents related to their possession were available at the premises. Acting on information about antique Hindu Deity statues being kept without legal documents at a location in Puducherry has led to a prized catch for the Tamil Nadu’s statue wing in CID Police.
Weighing 50 lbs and measuring around two-and-a-half feet in height, the Nataraja statue alone is valued at US$786,600, whereas the other two statues that also measure about the same height and weigh about 33 lbs are worth $393,300 each. An investigation is underway to ascertain the origin of these statues and the respective temples that they belong to. It was also revealed that the accused had made failed attempts to smuggle the statues to France. According to Vijay, co-founder, India Pride Project, an NGO that works towards restitution of Indian antiquities, such statues are not permitted to be exported as India has banned the export of any artifacts that are over 100 years old.
https://www.wionews.com/india-news/600-year-old-hindu-deity-idols-worth-millions-seized-in-indias-puducherry-470752