UK museum sends back stolen 16th-century bronze idol to Tamil Nadu temple

The Ashmolean Museum in the UK has repatriated a stolen 16th-century bronze idol of Saint Thirumankai Alvar to India, paving the way for its return to the temple in Tamil Nadu where it was originally worshipped.

In a major first, the University of Oxford's Ashmolean Museum has returned a 16th-century bronze idol of saint Thirumankai Alvar to India for its journey back to the temple in Tamil Nadu where it belongs.

The sacred icon of saint Thirumankai Alvar was acquired by the museum in a Sotheby's auction in 1967 before being alerted to its origins at the temple of Shri Soundararaja Perumal in Thadikombu by an independent researcher in November 2019.

This led to the museum requesting the High Commission of India in London to formally confirm its provenance, with the process concluding in a formal hand-over ceremony at India House on Tuesday evening.

"This is a really significant moment for the Ashmolean Museum," said Dr Xa Sturgis, director of Britain's first public museum dating back to the 17th century.

"It was over five years ago that we first became aware that there was evidence that this bronze had been photographed in the temple in Tamil Nadu. At that point it became evident that there was no legitimate way in which it could have left India.

"And, even though the museum acquired this bronze in 1967 in good faith, we opened a conversation with the Indian High Commission about the possibility of returning this object to India," he said.