NEWS

Activist Group Urges Indian Government to Return Buddhist Sculpture to Amaravati

By BD Dipananda
Buddhistdoor Global | 2018-01-19 |
The 1,800-year-old panel <i>Devotees of Buddha</i>. From deccanchronicle.comThe 1,800-year-old panel Devotees of Buddha. From deccanchronicle.com

Representatives of the India Pride Project (IPP), a nationwide body dedicated to bringing back India’s lost treasures, have called for an 1,800-year-old Buddhist sculpture to be returned to Amaravati, the de facto capital of the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh.

The statue depicting the life of the Buddha was stolen from Amaravati and then sold to the National Gallery of Australia in 2005. After previous efforts by the IPP, the media, and the goverments of Australia and India, the sculpture was passed to India’s minister of culture, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, in September 2016. However, it has since remained in storage in New Delhi warehouse.  

The IPP is now urging the state governments of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh (the two Telugu speaking states that were forrmerly a united Andhra Pradesh), to bring the sculpture back to Amaravati, the site of a celebrated Buddhist centre during the 2nd century BCE.

Heritage activist Anuradha Reddy has suggested that the Buddhist museum in Amaravati, which already houses a rich collection of antiquities and manuscripts, would be a suitable place to accommodate the statue. The IPP has requested that the statue be returned by Ugadi, the New Year celebration observed by Hindus in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

“[The statue has been] lying in a warehouse in Delhi for the last one-and-half years. The point we are trying to [make] is that the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments need to stress enough for the idols to reach their rightful places,” said IPP founder Anurag Saxena.  (The New Indian Express)

“We should do this to showcase that the Andhra Pradesh government can successfully claim what belongs to Telugu people. The state of Andhra Pradesh should raise a formal request to [the] Ministry of Culture, government of India, and reinstate this artifact in a grand ceremony around the time of Ugadi,” Saxena observed. (The Times of India

Other artifacts have undergone similar fates, such as an object related to monarch Nizam of Hyderabad, which was also sold to an Australian museum. The government has yet to make any efforts to bring this artifact back. “Foreign governments are willing to give back these treasures but our governments don’t stress enough,” said Saxena. (The New Indian Express)

Dr. C. S. Rangaranjan, hereditary priest of the Chilkur Balaji Temple in Telangana, noted that five statues were stolen from the temple in 2000. “So we know the agony. Idols and artifacts are priceless things and price cannot be fixed on them,” he explained. (Deccan Chronicle)

According to the IPP, around 70,000 archaeological artifacts and relics are currently outside of India. Efforts are made to have them returned, but according to the IPP these are insufficient. An agreement made with the United States in 2016, for example, should have guaranteed the return of 200 sculptures to India. “However, only 11 are back in India,” said Saxena. (The New Indian Express)

“These artifacts are the legacy that our forefathers left for us and that history needs to get back to geography,” said Ananda Shankar Jayant, director of Shankarananda Kalakshetra, a premier institution for classical music and dance in Hyderabad. (The Times of India)

See more

‘Bring back Indian idols from abroad’, says Telangana and Andhra Pradesh heritage activists (The New Indian Express)
'Bring back stolen Buddhist statue to Amaravati' (The Times of India)
Telangana, Andhra Pradesh urged to bring back sculptures (Deccan Chronicle)

Related news from Buddhistdoor Global

Andhra Pradesh Government Plans “Monastery Boulevard” in Amaravati
Buddhist Relics on Display in Andhra Pradesh’s Proposed New Capital Amaravati
Australia Continues to Return Stolen Artifacts to India for Better Ties
South Korea Returns Stolen Buddhist Statue to Japan
Indian States Squabble Over Buddhist Spoils

Related features from Buddhistdoor Global

The New Ancient Religions Gallery at the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore
An Archaeological History of Indian Buddhism – Book Review
Shifting Stones, Shaping the Past: Sculpture from the Buddhist Stupas of Andhra Pradesh – Book Review
A Golden Era: Gadaladeniya Sri Saddharmathilaka Temple
The Untapped Diplomatic Potential of Bangladesh’s Buddhist Heritage
Preserving and Protecting the Buddhist Heritage of Laos

Please support our work
Comments:
    Share your thoughts:
    Reply to:
    Name: *
    Content: *
    Captcha: *
     
    I have read the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy of the buddhistdoor global website.
    Back to Top