US customs officials have recovered a bronze religious statue from the 11th or 12th century that they say was looted from a temple in India.
The New York office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said on Wednesday that an anonymous collector voluntarily surrendered the idol.
It says the 76-cm-tall idol was looted from a temple in Tamil Nadu in southern India.
It will be returned to India.
Customs agents say the collector bought the object in 2006 and was given false provenance papers.
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ICE says the bronze statue would sell for as much as $US1 million ($A1.31 million) if legitimately offered on the market.
Its recovery is part of a three-year investigation into former New York-based art dealer Subhash Kapoor.
Kapoor is awaiting trial in India on looting charges.
In 2014, the the National Gallery of Australia returned to India a 900-year-old dancing Shiva statue that turned out to be stolen.
Kapoor sold it to the gallery for $A5.6 million.
