Oxford University agrees to return stolen 500-year-old bronze idol to India

The Oxford University Museum said that it was alerted on the origins of the ancient statue recently following which it alerted the Indian High Commission.

Image source: News 18

As per reports, the UK's prestigious Oxford University has agreed to return an ancient idol to India after it came to know about its origin. The 500-year-old bronze idol of a saint is believed to have been stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu India.

The university's Ashmolean Museum statement 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."

The statement added that the museum was alerted about the origin of the ancient statue by a researcher in November last year, after which the university alerted the Indian High Commission.

The statue of Saint Tirumankai Alvar is 60cm tall and was acquired by the Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford from Sotheby’s auction house in 1967 from the collection of a collector named Dr JR Belmont (1886-1981).

The Indian government made a formal request for the idol and the museum said that it acquired the statue in good faith in 1967.

In the past also, the stolen Indian artefacts were many times restored from the UK to India, most recently in August when a “Navaneetha Krishna” bronze sculpture originating from 17th century Tamil Nadu was restored to India. It was a limestone carved relief sculpture.

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