Celebrating the Return of India’s Lost Cultural Heritage

Union Minister of Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat today said that the return of the sacred antiquities from the United States marks the restoration of India’s civilisational memory and reflects the Government’s unwavering commitment towards reclaiming and preserving the nation’s cultural heritage under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

Addressing a press conference at the National Museum, New Delhi, the Minister described the repatriation of the three historic bronzes from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art as a significant milestone in India’s ongoing efforts to bring back stolen cultural treasures and strengthen ethical museum practices globally.

The repatriated bronzes include a Chola-period Shiva Nataraja dating to circa 990 CE, a 12th-century Somaskanda (Shiva and Uma), and a 16th-century Vijayanagara-period sculpture of Saint Sundarar with Paravai. These sacred temple bronzes, originally from Tamil Nadu, had been illicitly removed from India in the mid-20th century and subsequently housed abroad.

The Minister mentioned that antiquities are not merely artistic objects but embodiments of India’s spiritual traditions, historical continuity and civilisational memory. He noted that illicit trafficking of antiquities had deprived India of several invaluable cultural treasures over decades.(UPDATED ON 13TH MAY 2026)