Indian officials have linked a Shiva statue owned by the Art Gallery of South Australia to a temple in the historical city of Nellai in Tamil Nadu.
A photograph showed the statue in this temple in 1958.
According to the Art Gallery of South Australia, on the Gallery’s own initiative, Asian art curator James Bennett travelled to India to conduct archival research at the French Institute in Pondicherry in September 2016.
India, Southern India, Siva Nataraja (Dancing Siva), c.16th century, Tamil Nadu, South India, bronze, 75.7 cm; Gift of Diana Ramsay AO and AGSA foundation. Source: The Gallery of South Australia
"After going through 1,883 photos in the French Institute collection he identified a 1958 photo of a bronze Siva image which appeared to be similar to the Gallery’s statue,” the gallery told SBS Hindi.
In January 2017 Mr Bennett travelled to Tamil Nadu again where he was able to gain confirmation from the temple custodians that the statue was the same image which had gone missing sometime in the 1970s.
"Although no Indian police report was available to provide confirmation that it had been reported stolen at the time," the AGSA states.
According to an ABC report the bronze statue, weighing 100 kilograms, was bought in 2001 with $436,000 in donated funds. It is understood that the figure was reported missing in July 1982.
Temple in Nellai where the statue was stolen. Source: ABC Australia
“Since February 2017 the Gallery has been continuously seeking the police report, known as a First Information Record, stating that the statue had been stolen, but this has not been provided to the Gallery to date,” said the gallery.
The Art Gallery says it is aware that the Indian authorities recently know of our research. AGSA has not received any formal request to repatriate the statue but, it says it “will work with all relevant parties to repatriate the object once the Gallery receives a formal request.”
