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Stolen Vishnu idol sent back to India

IDOL INTACT: Martin D. Ficke, special agent, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, returns an ancient idol stolen from an Indian temple, to the Indian Government through Neelam Deo, Consul-General of India, in New York recently. — Photo: PTI

New York: A stolen 9th century stone idol with carvings of all the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu began its journey back home to be reinstalled in the Varaha temple in Mandsour, Madhya Pradesh, from where it was stolen six years ago.

Indian Consul-General Neelam Deo and Special Agent in charge of investigation at the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Martin D. Ficke signed the papers at a brief ceremony on Monday, formally handing it over to India. This was one of the two idols stolen. The search for the other is still on. Despite its tortuous journey to New York, the 127 cm tall and 71 cm wide idol is in good condition with only a mark at the back from where it might have been chipped off at the Mandsour temple. The recovery was described by Indian and United States officials as the ``fruitful'' result of coordinated investigations in India and the U.S. ``The Government and the people of India greatly appreciate this gesture of goodwill from the government and people of the United States,'' Ms. Deo said.

``When someone steals a cultural artefact from a country, that country loses a part of its identity and its heritage. Today, we are able to return the Varaha idol to the government and people of India and restore a part of its cultural heritage that had been stolen from her,'' Mr. Ficke commented as he signed the papers.

Senior Special Agent James McAndrew, who investigated the case, said the probe led the investigators to Namkha Dorjee, owner of the Bodh Citta Gallery, who was operating from his apartment in New York. Once agents closed in, he voluntarily handed them the statue.

Mr. McAndrew said that it was particularly difficult to investigate undocumented artefacts and a great deal depended on the way the theft is investigated in the home country. No arrest had yet been made in the U.S. as the crime could not be pinned on any individual.

The statue was originally destined for Switzerland but was diverted to Britain and papers were altered somewhere along the journey. The person who was responsible for sending it from Britain to the U.S. was reportedly killed in Afghanistan some time ago. He was apparently trying to smuggle out that country's heritage, American investigators said. It was only in 2003 that ICE received information from the Indian police and Interpol that the statue was in the United States which ultimately led to its recovery. The principal subject of the sandstone idol is Vishnu in his third incarnation as a boar and it shows the killing of Hiranya demon and the liberation of the earth. On the left elbow, earth is depicted as a feminine figure. Around the idol are the other incarnations of Vishnu.

In Varaha incarnation, Vishnu is said to have rescued the earth from being drowned by Hiranyaksha. Varaha, using his boar attributes, saved the earth from being drowned in the cosmic sea. — PTI

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Stolen Vishnu idol sent back to India

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