Stolen 500-year-old bronze statue from Tamil Nadu temple found in UK museum, set to return to India

• UK to return 16th-century bronze statue to India
• The statue was displayed at Oxford's Ashmolean Museum since 1967
• Idol traced to Tamil Nadu temple after provenance review

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A 16th-century bronze statue of Saint Tirumankai Alvar that was taken from a temple in Tamil Nadu is set to be returned to India from the United Kingdom, following investigations into its provenance, according to a report by TOI.

The 57.5-cm-tall bronze idol had been part of the collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford since 1967, where it was displayed publicly. The museum had acquired the sculpture in good faith after purchasing it from a private collector, Dr JR Belmont (1886–1981), according to information cited by Sotheby’s. However, details about how the artefact entered Belmont’s collection were not available.

The provenance of the statue came under scrutiny in November 2019 when a French scholar alerted the museum to research indicating that a photograph of the bronze had been taken in 1957 at the Soundarrajaperumal temple in Thadikombu village in Tamil Nadu. The finding suggested that the idol may have originated from the temple, prompting the museum to re-examine its records.

The Ashmolean Museum subsequently acknowledged that the object’s provenance was unclear and initiated an investigation. Although no formal claim had been filed at the time, the museum contacted the Indian High Commission on December 16, 2019, seeking further information and expressing willingness to discuss the possible return of the artefact.

The issue gathered momentum in February 2020 when the executive officer of the temple lodged a police complaint stating that the original bronze idol had been replaced with a modern replica. The Indian High Commissioner reportedly sought the return of the sculpture formally on March 3, 2020.

As part of the verification process, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) requested further scientific examination of the statue. The Ashmolean Museum commissioned a metal analysis of the bronze and shared the findings to assist with the provenance report.

Ashmolean director Dr Xa Sturgis stated that the museum was pleased that the object would be returned to India and expressed gratitude to Indian authorities and scholars for helping establish its origins, according to TOI. He also said that the museum and the University of Oxford remained committed to ethical collections practices and continued research into the history and provenance of items in their collections.

The return of the Tirumankai Alvar statue adds to a growing number of Indian antiquities being repatriated from international museums and collections in recent years, as authorities and scholars intensify efforts to trace objects removed from temples and heritage sites.