The Union Culture Ministry has turned down the Andhra Pradesh Government’s request for returning a famous 3rd Century stone panel titled ‘Worshippers of the Buddha’ which was stolen from its museum way back in 2005 and is presently kept in the National Museum in Delhi. The Centre has argued that the decorative artifact is safer in the National Museum than at the Andhra Pradesh’s Chandavaram site museum which is more prone to thefts in view of poor security.
It has also argued that the artifact is getting increased appreciation at the National Museum which has high footfalls daily.
The Ministry has, nevertheless, asked the Chandrababu Naidu Government to give details of the security measures it has at the ground-level at the small under-resourced Chandavaram site museum to ensure its safety and that it is not stolen again.
The ancient Indian limestone decorative panel that depicts two pairs of figures flanking an aniconic representation of the Buddha was returned to India in 2016 by the National Gallery of Australia. The NGA had purchased the panel in 2005 for $595,000 from New York art dealer and artifact trafficker Subhash Kapoor who is now in a Chennai jail.
In fact, the return of the antiquity was made after art historian Robert Arlt provided documentary evidence that ‘Worshippers of the Buddha’ was excavated from the stupa near the Buddhist site of Chandavaram in the 1970s, stolen from the site museum in 2001 and, by implication, illegally exported from India, according to a paper published in a Journal for Art Market Studies.
The Culture Ministry’s apprehension about the safety of the Buddha panel is not without reason. In 2000 and 2001, a total nine artifacts were stolen from the Chandavaram museum under the Separtment of Andhra Pradesh Department of Archeology and Museum. Four antiquities have been recovered till date.
Ironically, Andhra Pradesh is considered to be the hotspot of artifact thefts. According to reports, between 2012 and 2014, more than 250 people were arrested under the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972. Nearly two-thirds of these arrests were made in Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana) and neighbouring Karnataka.
The last theft reported from the Southern State was in November 2017, when a stone sculpture of Nandi dated 11th-12th century was allegedly stolen from Sri Anadavalli Ammavaru Temple at Gudimallam in Andhra Pradesh’s Chitoor district. Earlier in 2008, two Nizam-era swords and other antique articles stolen from the State Museum at Nampally were recovered by the Cyberabad police.. Two flower pots and decorative pieces of an ancient clock burgled from the museum are yet to be recovered.
Now, facing flak for failing to provide adequate security at its museums, the Andhra Pradesh Department of Archaeology and Museums is in the process of creating a digital repository of museums in the State with the twin objective of leveraging technology for taking the heritage of AP closer to people and for effective management of the museums.
In the first phase, all the collections, including artifacts, antiques and manuscripts, at six museums in Vijayawada, Guntur, Nellore, Kurnool, Kakinada and Rajamahendravaram will be digitised in three-dimensional format and made available online, said AP Government officials.