India’s cultural treasures return home in major repatriation drive
A total of 615 antiquities have been repatriated to India from various countries from 2021 till June 30 this year, the government informed Parliament on Monday. Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat shared the data in a written response to a query in the Lok Sabha. He was asked year-wise details and number of antiquities and cultural objects which have been “reported stolen” during the last five years, details and number of such antiquities traced and recovered during the period.
The minister shared the information in a tabulated form on theft cases from centrally protected monuments in his response.
According to the data, a Nandi sculpture was stolen from the Golingeswara group of temples in Biccavolu, East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, in 2021. However, it has been recovered.
Also, a stone idol of Ganpati was stolen in 2022 from the Ganpati Amma Shrine of Lakshminarasimha Temple, Marehalli in Mandya district of Karnataka, and an image of Vishnu was stolen in the same year from a site in a village in Patna district of Bihar, both of which have not been recovered, according to the data.
Shekhawat was also asked the details of the countries from which antiquities and cultural property have been repatriated during the last five years. Also, the details of the specific measures taken by the government to strengthen tracing and recovery of stolen antiquities, and the targets fixed for recovery and repatriation of antiquities and cultural property, and the details of progress achieved thereunder.
In another tabulated data, the government shared that 615 antiquities have been repatriated to India from various countries, from 2021 till June 30 this year.
In 2021, as many as 157 antiquities were repatriated from the US, and one each from Canada and the UK, it said.
“The government takes necessary steps towards the prevention of the theft of antiquities. Besides regular watch and ward staff, private security guards and Central Industrial Security Force have been deployed as per requirement at monuments of national importance, sites and museums,” the Union minister said.
Whenever any theft of an antiquity is reported, an FIR is lodged, and a Look Out Notice is issued to the law-enforcement agencies, including customs exit channels, to keep vigil to trace the stolen antiquity and prevent export, he added.
In a written response to a separate query, Shekhawat said that a total of 655 antiquities have been repatriated and authenticated since 2014 to June 30, 2026.
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Proud achievement of this govt.