Chola period stolen Lord Hanuman statue repatriated from Australia

The Community News/Canberra

The Chola period stolen statue of Lord Hanuman has been repatriated from Canberra in Australia, Indian Culture and Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy said on Tuesday.

Belonging to late Chola period of 14th-15th century, Lord Hanuman statue was stolen from a Vishnu Temple, Sri Varatharaja Perumal, Pottaveli Vellur in Ariyalur district of Tamilnadu.

“The repatriation of our rightful artefacts by Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government continues.

Dating back to the Chola Period (14th -15th century), the statue was handed over to the Indian Embassy in Australia at Canberra,” Reddy said in a tweet on Tuesday.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝘆 @narendramodi 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲𝘀:

The metal idol of Lord Hanuman that was stolen from a Vishnu Temple, Shri Varatharaja Perumal, Pottaveli Vellur, Ariyalur Dist., pic.twitter.com/CVNSzc1ylW
— G Kishan Reddy (Modi Ka Parivar) (@kishanreddybjp) April 24, 2023

The Lord Hanuman statue was documented by the French Institute of Pondicherry in 1961 and it was returned in February with the idol being handed over to Tamilnadu on 18 April.

“Till date, 251 antiquities have been retrieved back from different countries, out of which 238 have been brought back since 2014,” Reddy added.

It is worth mentioning here that the Indian government is working to safeguard our rich past and is ensuring retrieval of antiquities that have been taken unlawfully in the past.