Smithsonian to Return Stolen Temple Idols to India

• Shiva Nataraja, Somaskanda, and Sundarar with Paravi traced to temples in Tamil Nadu

• Deal signed between India and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art

• Nataraja bronze to remain on temporary display in the US despite transfer of ownership

Three antique sculptures are set to return to India from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art after research established that they were stolen from temples in Tamil Nadu.

India’s Deputy Chief of Mission in the US Namgya Khampa signed an agreement here with National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA) Director Chase Robinson for the return of a ninth-century Shiva Nataraja bronze, a 12th-century sculpture of Shiva and Uma, and a 16th-century depiction of Saint Sundarar with Paravi.

“Three invaluable antiquities are returning home to India from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art: a 9th-century Shiva Nataraja bronze, a 12th-century sculpture of Shiva and Uma, and a 16th-century depiction of Saint Sundarar with Paravi,” the Indian Embassy in the US said in a post on X.

It said following provenance research into these antiquities, the museum found that they were illegally removed from India.

“Three invaluable antiquities are returning home to India from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art: a 9th-century Shiva Nataraja bronze, a 12th-century sculpture of Shiva and Uma, and a 16th-century depiction of Saint Sundarar with Paravi,” the Indian Embassy in the US said in a post on X.

It said that following provenance research into these antiquities, the museum found that they were illegally removed from India. The Shiva Nataraja bronze will remain on loan for public viewing, offering visitors insight into India’s rich artistic and spiritual heritage, the Embassy said.

The sculptures of ‘Shiva and Uma’, also referred to as “Somaskanda” and “Saint Sundarar With Paravi”, were part of the collection Arthur M Sackler had donated to the museum in 1987. The NMAA, in a statement earlier this year, had said that research led by the museum’s team at the Photo Archives of the French Institute of Pondicherry confirmed that the “Saint Sundarar with Paravi” was photographed at the Shiva Temple in Veerasolapuram village, Kallakuruchi Taluk, Tamil Nadu, in 1956.

The 12th-century bronze statue of Shiva and Uma, also referred to as “Somaskanda”, was photographed at the Vishvanatha Temple in Alathur village, Mannarkudi taluk, Tamil Nadu, in 1959.

The “Shiva Nataraja” belonged to the Sri Bhava Aushadesvara Temple in Tirutturaippundi Taluk, Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu, India, where it was photographed in 1957. The bronze sculpture was later acquired by the NMAA from Doris Wiener Gallery in New York in 2002.