UNITED KINGDOM, June 8, 2024 (The Guardian): Oxford University has announced it is to hand back a 500-year-old sculpture of a Hindu saint to India. The almost 2 foot-tall bronze statue, which depicts Tirumankai Alvar, had been on display at the university’s Ashmolean Museum. A claim for the 16th-century sculpture of the Tamil poet and saint from south India was made through the Indian high commission. It is believed the bronze may have been looted from an Indian temple. A statement for the Ashmolean said: “On 11 March 2024 the council of the University of Oxford supported a claim from the Indian high commission for the return of a 16th-century bronze sculpture of saint Tirumankai Alvar from the Ashmolean Museum. This decision will now be submitted to the Charity Commission for approval.”

Last May, the Queen Consort Camilla wore Queen Mary’s crown at King Charles’s coronation without the controversial Koh-i-noor diamond. The Koh-i-noor, one of the largest cut gems in the world, was seized by the East India Company in Punjab, northern India, after its victory in the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1849. It was given to Queen Victoria and has been part of the crown jewels ever since and is on public display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London. India has made several claims to be the rightful owner of the diamond, which was used in the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

More on other disputed artifacts at source.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jun/08/oxford-university-to-return-500-year-old-sculpture-of-hindu-saint-to-india

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