Heritage activists demand Indian Idols be brought back to their rightful places

Bringing focus on the idols of historical importance from AP and Telangana, which were stolen, exchanged or smuggled into other countries, a group of heritage activists on Tuesday demanded the idols be brought back to their places of origin.

According to the investigations taken up by history enthusiasts from the India Pride Project, around 70,000 such idols are currently not in the country.

Recalling that a stolen Buddhist sculpture from Amaravati, taken to Australia, was handed over to the Minister of state (Culture) Mahesh Sharma in September 2016, Anurag Saxena from India Pride Project said that the sculpture is still lying in a warehouse in Delhi and urged the Telangana and AP governments to stress enough for the idols to reach their rightful places.

Similarly, an Alam belonging to the Nizam’s household was sold off for USD 1,75,000 yet no efforts were made by the government to bring it back to the city.

He even went on to mention the US government’s confirmation of returning 200 idols belonging to India in 2016 but added that only 11 of them are back in India.

Both the Telugu States’ governments have been sent recommendations by the activists that the statue from Amaravati is brought back by Ugadi.