Indian antiques

Indian artefacts are stolen, smuggled and sold abroad for millions of dollars

Prof Kirit Mankodi, a retired archaeologist from Pune, traces stolen artefacts

He also provides details of existing artefacts to prevent their sale in case they get stolen

itting at a computer in his drawing room, this 75-year-old is busy surfing through various news reports across the globe. While he brushes away most of them, the ones with reference to any archaeological monuments immediately catch his attention. Similarly, magazines on arts and sculptures are on top of his daily reading list.

His eyes glitter, if a familiar sculpture is spotted. And then he begins a meticulous investigation about the sculpture, which ends only when the details about its origin and ownership are shared with Indian and international investigation agencies.

Meet Prof Kirit Mankodi, a retired archaeology teacher, now protector of India’s rich heritage. Mankodi has been working to trace stolen sculptures from India for over a decade now. After his retirement as professor of archaeology at Deccan College, Pune, in 2005, Prof Mankodi took it upon himself to trace treasures stolen from India and sold abroad.

“Mankodi has been working to trace sculptures stolen from India for over a decade now”

“India has the richest archaelogical heritage, which can’t be matched by any other country. Thousands of valuable sculptures have been stolen from the country over the ages. I think, as an archaeologist, it’s my duty to trace them and facilitate their retrieval,” Mankodi says.

The hunt

He embarked upon this “mission” when 2 sculptures were stolen from an ancient temple in Rajasthan in 2009. One of the sculptures was later advertised in an art magazine for sale. “It was a major blow for me, since I was actively involved in the excavation of the temple at Atru in Rajasthan. And the sculptures were stolen from right under my nose! I couldn’t have remained silent, so I began tracing it,” Mankodi recalls.

It turned out that the sculpture was advertised for sale in an art magazine by a London based businessman. When he came across the advertisement, Mankodi alerted the authorities at the Archaeological Survey of India, who passed on the information to Interpol and the US Department of Homeland Security. “They raided the London showroom, only to find that the sculpture has been moved from there. It was later traced in New York. The government of India has now initiated the process to retrieve the sculpture,” Mankodi said.

Mankodi has also traced 2 sculptures stolen from the Atru temple in Rajasthan. “The sculptures of two amorous couples, known in Indian art as Mithunas, were stolen from the ruins we had excavated at Atru. The first theft was on 23 April, 2009 while the second sculpture was stolen 5 months later. Surprisingly, the sculpture was advertised in the Hong Kong based art journal Arts of Asia in March 2010 issue on page 61. A London based businessman had advertised it. The sculptures were valued at US $2 million each. I immediately alerted the ASI authorities and the Indian High Commission in London was also alerted,” Mankodi said.

“Both sculptures were recovered with the help of the US Department of Homeland Security and Interpol and handed over to the government of India in January 2014,” Mankodi narrates. “It is a matter of immense satisfaction that I could trace and retrieve the sculptures stolen from the temple since I was part of the excavation team,” he adds.

Ashwin Aghor @CatchNews|8 February 2016

In January 2014, Indian newspapers reported the return of three stolen sculptures — two amorous couples (known as Mithunas in Indian art), and a stone sculpture of a male deity from the US Immigration Custom’s Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security to the Indian embassy. The three sculptures were valued at $1.5 million (Rs 9 crore). While the news widely featured and was appreciated by all Indian art lovers, very few are aware that it would have been impossible without the efforts of a Mumbai-based professor of Archaeology, Kirit Mankodi.

Earlier, in 2010, Mankodi, an expert on Indian temples and sculptures, had helped Interpol trace the sculptures. He had identified one of the sculptures in an ad for sale in an international magazine. Mankodi immediately wrote emails to the Interpol and US Homeland Security with details about the sculptures, their place of origin and photographs of the site, before and after the theft. He also wrote emails to scholars, museums, art dealers and experts around the world to help locate the second one.

A digitally mastered image of a Buddha sculpture, stolen from a protected site in Bilhari, Katni, Madhya Pradesh. While part of the sculpture (right and top) remains attached to the site, the main statue has been missing since 2007.

Lost and foundMankodi, 74, who helped identify and establish the ownership of these sculptures, has since then been writing extensively about stolen artworks via email and on his website Plunderedpast.in. He has managed to create a database of over 15 such thefts, with details about their origin, pictures before and after theft as well as dates of FIR. The list includes sculptures from Sas-Bahu temples at Nagda in Rajasthan (2006), two Buddha sculptures from Bilhari, two stone sculptures of the Hindu god Ganesha and Hindu god Brahma stolen from the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Rani Ki Vav or the Queen’s Stepwell (underground reservoir) at Patan, Gujarat, in 2001, and many more.

A headless statue at Jina, Kota, Rajasthan. Mankodi says that there are thousands of such headless sculptures in India. “When thieves can’t take away the entire structure, they cut off its head and sell it in the market,” he says.

These are just some of the sculptures that have either been identified or reported lost. Mankodi believes that there would be many more. “I was able to identify these thefts because I had worked on these sites. There could be many more such sculptures, which have been stolen from India, and not reported,” he says. This could be highly possible considering Homeland Security and Interpol recently found artefacts worth over $30 million (Rs 180 crore) stashed at various warehouses owned by the New York-based Indian art dealer, Subhash Kapoor. The art dealer is currently undergoing trial in Tamil Nadu for allegedly stealing artefacts and exporting them outside India. According to the website hasingaphrodite.com, nearly 230 artworks have been traced from Kapoor to some of the most popular galleries in the world, including Australia’s National Gallery of Art (21), Metropolitan Museum of Art (81), Toledo Museum of Art (44), Boston’s Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago, among others. The dealings go to several millions of dollars.

Around four-five of the eight celestial women missing  from the ceiling of the Sas-Bahu temple in Nagda (above) are believed to have been traced to dealers, but bureaucratic laziness has prevented their return.

Art of the matter
“As unfortunate as it is, despite the huge size of the stolen artefact rackets, the Indian government has failed to form any individual organisation to monitor and trace stolen artworks from India,” rues Mankodi. Lack of efforts by the central and state governments inspired Mankodi to start the website. “To prevent such thefts from happening, and retrieve what has already left India, we need awareness. This is our heritage, our culture, and it must be preserved,” he says, adding, “I created the website so anybody — from international organisations, museums and galleries to art dealers, scholars or the common man is aware of such thefts and can alert us or the authorities about them.”

Saving our artefacts
Mankodi relies mostly on the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for details on recent thefts, and information from art dealers and other experts. “The ASI is not an investigating agency, so, it can’t investigate thefts. What it does is file an FIR when such a theft is brought to notice. I get all the information — the FIR number, the place from where the theft has taken place, the police station where the FIR is lodged, the date of theft, photograph and description of the artefact — and I put it on the website.”

His efforts have also helped trace two sculptures from Nagda Temple, which an art dealer had bought, unknowingly. The dealer offered to return the sculptures, but there has been no response from the Indian authorities. Mankodi advises all owners of old artefacts, including those inherited from their fathers to register them with the ASI as soon as possible. “Every owner of old artefacts must register it to the authorities under Indian Antiquities Law. But also because it will save you from any trouble, and help relocate in case of a theft. To claim a stolen artwork, you have to provide a link and establish the ownership. And for that, the best thing to do is to register it with ASI,” he adds.

Did you know? “Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are the three most vulnerable states in terms of sculpture thefts. These states are rich in temples; many in small villages are often unlocked and unprotected, and hence, vulnerable to thefts. While Tamil Nadu has an active department to look after thefts of artefacts, I am not aware of such organisations run by the other states or the central government,” Mankodi informs. Man on a mission

Author of several books on Indian temples and their architecture, Kirit Mankodi graduated in Ancient Indian Culture from St Xavier’s College, and holds a MA and PhD in Archaeology from Deccan College, Pune. He has taught at reputed schools and colleges like Pune’s Deccan College and College of Indology in Bhopal.

He has also authored several papers on the art and architecture of temples in professional journals. When he isn’t teaching or writing books, he is busy working on the website. “The website takes a lot of my time, largely because, before you I have to double check everything before I put it on the website. You cannot post inaccurate information because that would be wrong. Besides, I have to also stay updated on any new developments on the stolen artworks,” he signs off.

The Canadians have no problem returning the work but they’re apparently unable to do so because no theft was ever reported and therefore India can’t prove ownership.

 The picture of the statue — dubbed ‘Parrot Lady’ — is now being circulated to all field offices of the Archaeological Survey of India, but nobody seems to have a clue how it ended up several continents away. “The picture of the statue was first sent to the Bhopal circle office since Khajuraho comes under its jurisdiction.

They have reported that there is no record of any theft of such a statue,” said ASI DG Rakesh Tiwari.The survey has also asked the CBI to check whether any complaint has been registered with the agency. “ASI wrote to us just about a week ago. There is no complaint with us and since it appears to be a case of trafficking of cultural heritage property, we are enquiring into it,” CBI spokesperson Kanchan Prasad told ET.

“The statue is clearly a product of the Bundelkhand region and fits in perfectly with the other sculptures of Khajuraho but we can’t do anything till we can show Canadian authorities proof of ownership,” said a senior ASI official. Such proof would include an FIR reporting the loss or theft, details of investigations carried out and a certificate showing that it was actually registered either with the state concerned or ASI. The sculpture has been with the Department of Canadian Edmonton, capital of Alberta province, since 2011.

Canadian customs hasn’t said how it came by the item. Interestingly, Canadian Heritage wrote to the Indian High Commission in Ottawa at the time. The Commission took three years to forward the message.

Experts said it appears to be clear that the statue was taken out of the country illegally. This is not the first time that ASI has been faced with such a predicament. The organisation discovered that a stolen idol of goddess Durga was on display at a museum in Stuttgart, Germany, only after they were told by New York-based art dealer Subhash Kapoor, arrested for smuggling and deported to Chennai. He’s currently lodged in jail there. But in that case ASI is on stronger ground. Its J&K office had reported that the registered antiquity had been stolen from a temple in Pulwama in the late 1990s. The only hitch is that it’s not registered as an idol of ‘Durga’ but under a local name.