Sendurai, Sennivanam & Sripurandan Shiva Temples,
Ariyalur
Epigraphically evidences show that the Siva temples at
Sendurai, Sennivanam and Sripurandan belong to the periods of Rajaraja-I
(985-1014), Rajendra–I (1012-1044) and Kulothunga–III (1178-1218) respectively.
Sripuranthan Natarajan Idol Controversy
The Sripuranthan Natarajan Idol, is a 900-year-old
statue of Natarajan - the dancing Shiva, which was stolen from the
ancient Brihadeeswarar temple of Sripuranthan, and smuggled to the United States and then sold to
the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra with a false provenance, for US$ 5.1 million.
The statue was consequently returned by Australia to the Indian government on
ethical grounds, once questions were raised on the due diligence of not being
followed during the acquisition.
Nataraja:
Nataraja (Koothan) is a depiction of the Hindu
God Shiva as the cosmic dancer who performs his divine dance
to destroy a weary universe and make preparations for the god Brahma to start the process of creation. The dance of
Shiva in Thillai, the traditional name for Chidambaram, forms the motif for all the depictions of Shiva as
Nataraja. He is also known as "Sabesan" which splits as "Sabayil
aadum eesan" in Tamil which means "The Lord who dances on the dais".
The form is present in most Shiva temples in South
India, and is the prime deity in the famous Thillai Nataraja Temple at Chidambaram. The sculpture is usually made in bronze, with Shiva
dancing in an aureole of flames, lifting his left leg (or in rare cases,
the right leg) and balancing over a demon or dwarf (Muyalaka) who symbolizes
ignorance. It is a well known sculptural symbol in India and popularly used as
a symbol of Indian culture.
Background:
The Udayarpalayam taluk of the Ariyalur
District, in Tamil
Nadu, India has nearly 463 ancient temples, of which 200
belong to the Chola period dated 9th to 10th century AD. Most of these
temples haven't seen maintenance for many decades and have lax security. Local
idol thieves used to target the idols for their metal content, usually melting
the idols. Some idols are pure gold, silver and panchaloha - 5 precious metals.
However, the entry of international smuggling cartels has changed the
situation. With antique Chola art being worth millions in the international
market, local idol thieves were recruited to lift the idols from the temples.
In 2008, one such gang allegedly recruited by New
York-based art dealer Subhash Kapoor was responsible for stealing 8 idols lifted from
the Brihadeeswarar temple at Sripuranthan, 18 idols from the Varadharaja
Perumal temple, and in 2010, 6 panchaloha idols from Chozheeswarar temple at Vikramangalam.
Subhash
Kapoor:
Subhash Kapoor owned an upscale Indian art dealership
called 'Art of the Past' in Manhattan, USA. Across the years, he had built a good working
relationship with international art galleries, as a reputable dealer of Indian
antiques. Following accusations of illegal dealing, the Kapoor's gallery was
raided by the Homeland security, and stolen artwork worth 100 million was
seized. Subhash Kapoor was arrested in Germany and extradited to India to face
trial. He is currently lodged at the Puzhal Central Prison in Tamil Nadu, India, facing charges for criminal
conspiracy to stealing antique idols which carries a maximum sentence of 14
years. However, Kapoor protests his innocence and believes that he has been
framed.
Idol
theft from Sripuranthan:
According to the Art investigative website, Chasing
Aphrodite, Kapoor had travelled to India and met Sanjeevi Asokan, a kingpin of
a ring of idol thieves. Consequently, In 2006, thieves were hired for US$12,000
for stealing 8 idols - Nataraja and Uma Maheswari, Vinayagar, Devi, Deepalaksmi, Chandra Shekarar, Sampanthar and Krishnar, from the dilapidated Brihadeeswarar temple at
Sripuranthan. Worship at the temple had ended a long time ago, as the temple
was being plagued by scorpions and poisonous bugs, and was locked and had
fallen into ruins.
The theft occurred on 3 different occasions starting in
January 2006, with the thieves carefully gluing back the lock. Soon after the
theft, pictures of the stolen idols were sent to Kapoor in October 2006. The
stolen idols were mixed with new replicas to fool customs officials, and
exported out of India by a company called Ever Star International Services Inc.
to New York, where it was received by Nimbus Imports Exports, a company owned
by Kapoor. Soon after that Kapoor was able to obtain a certificate from
the Art Loss Register (ALR) stating that the Nataraja idol was not on
the stolen artefacts register. At this point of time, the ALR had no
information on the stolen Nataraja, as the theft of the idols in the Shiva
temple at Sripuranthan, which was in ruins, was discovered by the villagers
only in 2008.
The discovery was done in 2008, when officials of the Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India arrived in the village for removing the 8 idols
from the temple for safekeeping, when the glued lock and missing idols were
discovered. A First Information Report (FIR 133/2008) was filed at the Vikramangalam
Police Station in this regard. The Economic Offenses Wing of the Tamil
Nadu Police released pictures of
the missing idols on its website.
Acquisition
by the National Gallery of Australia:
The National Gallery of Australia (NGA) was keen to
enhance its collection of Indian art. Consequently, in 2008, the NGA, under Ron
Radford, Director and Robyn Maxwell, Senior curator Asian Art, acquired the
dancing Shiva from Subhash Kapoor. The provenance provided stated that the idol
was sold by Raj Mehgoub of Grand Central Parkway to Subhash Kapoor. Further, it
was claimed the idol was acquired in New Delhi in 1970 (a year before the
Indian government banned the export of antiquities from India), by Raj's late
husband Abdullah Mehgoub, who was a Sudanese diplomat serving in India between
1968 and 1971.
A sales receipt dated 15 April 1970, issued by Uttam
Singh & Sons, Jama Masjid, Delhi, to Abdulla Mehgoub of Defence Colony, New
Delhi was produced as part of the provenance. A sum of US$5.1 million was paid
by the National Gallery of Australia, for the idol.
Theft
Exposed:
The investigative website Chasing Aphrodite was the
first to expose that the Shiva idol acquired by the NGA was a stolen artwork
from Southern India. The story was picked up by Australian and Indian news
agencies and widely reported in both countries. New York Police recovered
pictures of the idol from Kapoor's house, where the idol appeared in a
contemporary Indian house environment, discounting the claim that the idol has
been outside India since 1971. Records of the idol had been maintained at
the French Institute of
Pondicherry, with 3 photo records
from different periods. Further, a 75-year-old farmer, Govindarajan, had a
30-year-old picture of Natarajan and his consort, which was taken by a
photographer from Kumbakonam.
Using this information, The Hindu newspaper ran an
article comparing photos - a photo of the Sripuranthan Natarajar idol from the
French Institute of Pondicherry taken in 1994, photos of the idol recovered by
New York Police during the raid of Kapoor's house and the photo of the idol which
is displayed at the National Gallery of Australia. It concluded all the 3
photos were of the same idol, showing 7 similarities
·
27 flames around the
circle
·
Left leg pointing between
the 3rd and 4th flame
·
Waist cloth of Shiva
merged with the 23rd and 24th flame
·
3rd flame slightly damaged
·
12th and 13th flame
damaged
·
17th flame damaged
·
Flowing hair damaged
However, the National Gallery of Australia continued to
deny that the artwork was stolen, refusing to return it, and continued to
display it in the gallery, without any note of its doubtful provenance. This
stand of NGA was criticized by Australian Media, with Duncan Chappell,
criminology expert from University of Sydney, calling it in-appropriate and an
international embarrassment. The Government of India formally requested the
Australian government for the artwork to be returned, under the UNESCO convention
on stolen antiquities.
Investigative site Poetry in Stone, also published a
list of stories named as the 'Kapoor Files', showing that several of the stolen
idols stolen from Sripuranthan and Suthamalli, had appeared in consecutive 'Art
of the Past' catalogues. The site compared the photos published in the Kapoor
catalogs, with the photos of the stolen idols as recorded by the French Institute of
Pondicherry, and pointed out the
similarities.
Return
to India:
In March 2014, Ron Radford, the director of the National
Gallery of Australia, decided to remove the idol from display. In September
2014, the Australian Government decided to return the Natarajar idol to India,
along with another stolen antique idol of Shiva as Ardhanarisvara which was
displayed at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The two antiques were handed over by the then
Australian Prime Minister Tony
Abbott to the Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on 5 September 2014, at New
Delhi. The Nataraja idol was
then moved to Madras and temporarily stored in the safe room of
the Archaeological Survey of India office at Fort
St. George, before being produced
before the judicial magistrates of Jayamkondam and Vridhachalam.
In November 2014, the Nataraja idol was paraded on the
streets of Sripuranthan, under tight security. It was temporarily placed in its
original damp stone altar. However, the officials made it clear, that the
statue will be displayed at the Government Museum at Kumbakonam, and will only be bought into Sripuranthan once a year
for the annual festivities. The consort of Nataraja was traced to the Asian Civilization Museum at Singapore, and the Government of Singapore agreed for its return to India. Overall 4 of the 8
statues stolen from Sripuranthan were traced, with 3 to the United States and 1
to Singapore.
Consequences:
The arrest of Subhash Kapoor alarmed museums all over
the world, as they started investigating their purchases from his art gallery.
The Linden Museum, Germany returned to the Indian government, a
9th-century AD idol of Mahishasumardini, stolen from Pulwama district in Jammu
and Kashmir in the 1990s, which
was acquired from Kapoor. The Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio agreed to return 4 artifacts acquired from
Kapoor, which included the Vinayagar statue stolen from Sripuranthan. The other
antiques are a stone idol of Varaha Rescuing the Earth (acquired 2001), Mughal
origin 18th-century enamel with gold box (acquired 20008), and a water colour
Rasikapriya from the Samdehi Ragini (acquired 2010).