Idol Wing steps up efforts to recover three idols from U.K., Netherlands, and Singapore

The Idol Wing-CID of the Tamil Nadu Police has stepped up efforts to retrieve 3 idols — Thirumangai Alwar, Kannappa Nayanar, and Hanuman — from museums successful the U.K., the Netherlands, and Singapore. Officials expressed the anticipation that the idols would soon beryllium brought backmost to India and restituted to their respective temples.

Additional Director-General of Police (ADGP) and Idol Wing-CID main Kalpana Nayak has been corresponding with the overseas museums, the Union Ministry of Culture, and the respective overseas offices.

Auction halted

Ms. Nayak told The Hindu, “We are successful interaction with the authorities successful those countries done due channels. The idols are those of Lord Hanuman, Kannappa Nayanar, and Thirumangai Alwar. We person submitted documents to the Singapore depository requesting the instrumentality of theHanuman idol. Officials of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, besides visited the Sudaraperumal Koil successful Kumbakonam, and we person established that the Thirumangai Alwar idol belongs to that temple. They person agreed to instrumentality the idol soon. We are besides pursuing the Kannappa Nayanar idol case. The auction of the idol was stopped owing to our intervention. Two museums person requested replicas of the idols successful speech for the originals, and that process is nether way. We are making each efforts to bring backmost these idols and reconstruct them to their rightful temples.”

The idol of Thirumangai Alwar, stolen from the Sudaraperumal Koil successful Kumbakonam, was conclusively identified astatine Ashmolean Museum, aft researchers matched it with archival photographs from the French Institute of Pondicherry. The assertion was confirmed successful March 2020, but the COVID-19 restrictions delayed verification. The Ashmolean Museum squad visited the temple successful July 2022, and the University Council of Oxford approved the idol’s deaccession successful March 2024, with the depository committing to its instrumentality aboriginal that year.

An 11th–12th Century bronze idol of Kannappa Nayanar, stolen connected August 8, 2010, from the Arulmigu Agneeswaraswamy Temple astatine Thirupugalur, Nagapattinam, was intercepted earlier being sold astatine the TEFAF Maastricht 2025 creation just successful the Netherlands (March 20–25, 2025). Following recognition by Vijay Kumar and the India Pride Project and alerts from the Idol Wing-CID and the Archaeological Survey of India, Dutch officials seized the idol and placed it successful the custody of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs connected March 23, 2025.

The Ananthamangalam Rama radical — comprising the bronze idols of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, and Hanuman — was stolen from the Rajagopalaswami Temple, Ananthamangalam, Tamil Nadu, successful 1978. Decades later, the Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana idols were traced to a London-based collector linked to the smuggling web of Subhash Kapoor. On being presented with grounds of a post-UNESCO 1970 theft, the collector voluntarily restituted the idols, which were formally handed implicit to the Indian High Commission successful London successful November 2020. The idols were subsequently repatriated to Tamil Nadu and reinstated for worship astatine their archetypal shrine.

In contrast, the Hanuman idol from the aforesaid group, acquired by the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM), Singapore, successful 1998, remains unrestituted contempt wide grounds of provenance. Vijay Kumar, co-founder of the India Pride Project, said, “The ACM, Singapore, contempt overwhelming grounds of provenance, continues to clasp connected to the stolen bronze. The ACM has truthful acold restituted lone the Uma Parameshwari idol from Sripuranthan linked to the Kapoor scandal.”

440 artefacts

As of September 30, a full of 440 artefacts person been retrieved. Among them are 239 metallic idols, 98 chromatic idols, 4 maragatha lingams, and respective paintings. “Apart from these idols, the Union Ministry of Culture has respective artefacts successful its custody that were recovered from overseas soil. We are successful the process of verifying them to place those that beryllium to Tamil Nadu. Once confirmed, they volition beryllium brought backmost to the State and restituted,” Ms. Nayak added.