Avalokiteshwara Padamapani idol to be repatriated soon

The idol was handed over to the Indian consulate there in February this year, he said.The process of bringing back the beautifully crafted and restored 1,200-year-old Buddha from Milan to India is in the final stage ... India Pride Project, Singapore and Art Recovery International, London swiftly assisted in identification and return of the stolen idol, the Indian consulate at Milan had said.

The stolen 8th century 'Avalokiteshwara Padamapani' Buddhist stone idol will be repatriated to India soon from Milan in Italy, where it was handed over to the Indian consulate three months ago, a senior Archaeological Survey of India official said on Thursday.

The Bodhisattva idol was stolen in 2000 from a temple at Kurkihar, which is about 27 km from Gaya and was recovered from a private collector in Milan. The idol was handed over to the Indian consulate there in February this year, he said.

''The process of bringing back the beautifully crafted and restored 1,200-year-old Buddha from Milan to India is in the final stage ... It will be brought back to India within a month,” the official told PTI. “There are certain diplomatic formalities that need to be completed for initiating the repatriation process of the idol. These are being fianlised”, he clarified. ASI has been pursuing the process of retrieval of antiquities from foreign lands along with the missions abroad. Once the smuggled or stolen artefacts are seized in another country, the process of identification and return to the country of origin takes some time. ASI is the custodian of these objects once they return to India, the official added. Kurkihar had more than 226 bronze idols famously called the ‘Kurkihar hoard’ and the 'Avalokiteshwara Padamapani' idol was in the Devisthan Kundulpur temple for almost 1200 years till it was stolen and smuggled out of India in early 2000.

“It is learnt that the idol had briefly surfaced in the art market in France, before being located in Milan Italy. India Pride Project, Singapore and Art Recovery International, London swiftly assisted in identification and return of the stolen idol,” the Indian consulate at Milan had said. India Pride Project and Art Recovery are global efforts to track and reinstate stolen heritage. 'Avalokiteshwara is the Bodhisattva (person on the path towards Buddhahood). who embodies the compassions of all the Buddhas. He has 108 avatars, a notable one being Padmapani - the one who holds the lotus (padma), the Indian consulate in Milan had said.

The idol depicts him standing holding the stem of a blossoming lotus in his left hand. He is richly adorned with a transparent dhoti maintained by finely crafted belt and is wearing necklaces, bracelets and a tiara. At his feet two women are seated in 'rajalilasana' pose or the royal ease pose, the envoy said. Goutami Bhattacharya, superintending archaeologist of ASI, Patna circle welcoming the news said 'The idol must come back to India at the earliest”.