Australia repatriates 29 Indian antiquities ahead of virtual summit

The oldest antiquity, a sandstone idol titled ‘Shiva Bhairava’ is believed to date back to 9th-10th century CE.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inspected 29 antiquities in New Delhi, that were repatriated to India from Australia. This development comes ahead of the virtual summit to be held today between Mr. Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison later in the day.

The antiquities, comprising a mix of sculptures, paintings, portraits and decorative objects, range from States across the country. While 15 of the 29 artefacts have been identified as belonging to Rajasthan, the rest have been marked as originally from Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and West Bengal.

The oldest antiquity, a sandstone idol titled ‘Shiva Bhairava’ is believed to date back to 9th-10th century CE.

Other antiquities include a bronze statue of seventh-century child saint ‘Sambandar’ from Tamil Nadu, a 12th century sandstone statue from Gujarat depicting Goddess Durga slaying the buffalo demon, and 11th century marble relics from Mount Abu showing the arch of a Jain shrine and a Jain sculpture.

The repatriated items also consist of photographic and painted portraits of Maharaja Sir Kishen Pershad Yamin, and Hiralal A. Gandhi among others.

In 2019, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison had announced the return of other Indian artefacts held by the National Gallery of Australia. “Like India, we understand the value of our ancient cultures and artefacts,” the Australian Prime Minister had said. “The return of these artefacts is the right thing to do. This is another demonstration of the deep relationship between Australia and India.”