India To Push For Return Of Dhar’s Vagdevi Idol At BRICS Culture Meet

More than a century after an idol of Goddess Vagdevi associated with Dhar was taken to Britain, efforts to secure its return are moving beyond court proceedings and the politically sensitive Bhojshala dispute to an international diplomatic platform.

The possible repatriation of the historic sculpture from the British Museum is expected to provide a major Madhya Pradesh context to the BRICS Culture Working Group and Culture Ministers’ meetings in Bhopal. During the four-day engagement, India is likely to seek stronger cooperation among BRICS countries for recovering idols, sculptures and antiquities stolen, smuggled or removed during the colonial era, NDTV reported.

Union Culture Secretary Vivek Aggarwal said the Centre had been pursuing the matter through diplomatic and institutional channels following a formal request from the Madhya Pradesh government.

“Immediately after I took over as secretary in the Union Culture Ministry, the Madhya Pradesh government wrote to us seeking the repatriation of the Goddess Vagdevi idol housed in the British Museum. Since then, we have been continuously working through diplomatic channels as well as at the museum level,” Aggarwal said.

He added that several written communications had been exchanged, particularly through India’s diplomatic establishment in the United Kingdom.

Repatriation Efforts Predate High Court Verdict

The Centre’s discussions over the idol began before the Madhya Pradesh High Court delivered its May 15 judgment concerning the disputed Bhojshala-Kamal Maula complex.

In its ruling, the court declared the disputed part of the complex to be a temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati, also known as Vagdevi. It also set aside the Archaeological Survey of India’s 2003 arrangement that allowed Muslims to offer Friday prayers at the site.

The court further asked the government to consider representations seeking the return of the idol from London.

The white-marble sculpture belongs to the Paramara period and bears an inscription connecting it to 11th-century Dhar. It is approximately 1.28 metres tall and is estimated to weigh around 250 kilograms.

British Museum records identify Major-General William Kincaid as the source from whom the sculpture was acquired. The idol formally entered the museum’s collection in 1909.

BRICS Meetings To Focus On Cultural Property

The Third BRICS Culture Working Group Meeting is being held in Bhopal on August 5 and 6. It will be followed by the BRICS Cultural Festival on August 6 and 7 and the Culture Ministers’ Meeting on August 7 and 8.

Ministers, deputy ministers and delegates from 10 of the 11 full BRICS member countries are expected to attend. Saudi Arabia is the only full member not expected to participate.

India is likely to use the meetings to seek closer cooperation on identifying, tracing and returning cultural objects removed from their countries of origin.

The discussion comes as India highlights its expanding record of securing the return of antiquities from overseas.

India’s Growing Repatriation Record

Official figures released in May stated that 653 antiquities had been repatriated since 2014, compared with only 13 before that period.

A separate government release placed the overall number of antiquities returned to India at 666, including 653 recovered since 2014.

Recent repatriations include important Chola- and Vijayanagara-period bronzes from the United States.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art returned a 12th-century Somaskanda sculpture and a 16th-century image of Saint Sundarar with Paravai. A Chola-period Shiva Nataraja is also scheduled to return after the completion of a temporary display arrangement.

Australia has separately agreed to return three antiquities from Tamil Nadu: a stone Nandi, a metal trident carrying an image of Bhadrakali and a six-headed stone sculpture of Kartikeya.

Their voluntary return was welcomed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Australia in July.

Against this broader backdrop, the campaign to bring the Vagdevi idol back to Dhar is likely to receive renewed attention during the BRICS meetings. Its return would carry not only historical and cultural significance but also considerable political and religious importance in Madhya Pradesh.