BHOPAL : On April 15, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper presented an early medieval period sandstone sculpture ‘Parrot Lady’ to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the latter’s Canada visit. The precious sculpture, which once adorned the temples of Khajuraho, was stolen and smuggled to Canada. Ironically, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), mandated with the responsibility of preserving and protecting the Khajuraho temple complex, does not even know when and from exactly where the sculpture was stolen.
Though the “Parrot Lady” is back in India and hopefully, would return to its original home – Khajuraho – there are hundreds nay thousands of ‘Parrot Ladies’ which have simply vanished into thin air, never to be seen again.
Madhya Pradesh is being slowly but surely denuded of its priceless ancient heritage. Thefts of antiques have become a thriving business and after plundering Bihar and Uttar Pradesh of their archaeological wealth, the international racketeers engaged in this trade have descended on Madhya Pradesh.
Madhya Pradesh is exceptionally rich in archaeological monuments: the temples of Khajuraho, the Stupas of Sanchi, the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka, the Paintings of Orchha and several other places have been attracting a large number of tourists both Indian as well as foreign and are exquisite samples of India’s hoary past.
However, owing to dense forests and hills, the state was relatively free from the depredations of idol thieves till a couple of decades back. Moreover, they concentrated mainly on Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which were the focal points of several ancient and medieval empires including the Mauryan and the Guptas. The monuments in these states were not very well-protected and virtually no record of archaeological remains was maintained. The result is that these states can now not even tell what has been lost and what remains. And what remains, incidentally, is not much to write home about.
Madhya Pradesh has over 1000 monuments of archaeological value. And they are spread all over the state, unlike some other states, where they are concentrated in a few pockets.
During the last forty years or so, around 300 thefts of idols and other antiques have been reported. However, the actual figure may be much higher as a large number of thefts are not recognised as such because of a lack of proper record and periodic inspection.
Most of these thefts have been reported from unprotected monuments and understandably so because out of a total of 1000-odd monuments, only 737 are protected between the central and the state governments, leaving the field wide open for thieves. Two hundred ninety monuments in the State are maintained by the ASI whereas 445 are looked after by the State Archaeology Department.
The modus operandi of the idol thieves has also undergone a change over the years. The typical picture of a European stealthily carrying an idol in his bosom is no longer true. Now, the king-pin of the trade usually operates from a metropolitan city while the real work is done by a local contact. However, there are many layers between the person who actually steals an image and the one to whom it ultimately reaches to be shipped to some European country or the USA, where it adorns the drawing room of some billionaire. Diplomats of some Western countries are also said to be involved in this very lucrative trade. In Madhya Pradesh, most of the plundering has been done by thieves from the border districts of Satna and Rewa. Besides, Gwalior, Bhind and Morena have also been centres of the activities of the racketeers. The theft of Mahishasur Mardini idol from Sirpur (now in Chhattisgarh) and of three female figures of Surasundari from Nagda were much talked about. The Nagda figurines, stolen in 1999, surfaced in Belgium and are presently in possession of authorities in Brussels. Similarly, Sidheshwar Temple of Nemawar (Dewas), Sculpture shed of Karitalai (Jabalpur), Sculptures shed, Thoban (Ashok Nagar), Somnath temple, Mahadanta (Khargone) were also targeted by plunderers and the antiques stolen from these monuments are yet to be recovered.
The thieves cash-in on the tremendous craze for relics in the Western countries and the estimates of the value of antiques stolen from the state in the international market runs into hundreds of crores of rupees. How lucrative and flourishing the trade is can be gauged from the fact that in 2012, Immigration and Customs authorities in New York seized over 20 million dollars worth of antiques stolen from Indian temples. These included a sculpture, depicting Parvati, from the Chola period, valued at nearly 2.5 million dollars and another depicting Murugan, reportedly worth over 3.5 million dollars.
The business is thriving because while the sums involved are huge, the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972, under which stealing of archaeological wealth has been made an offence, lacks teeth. A fine of Rs 10,000 and imprisonment up to three years is the worst punishment an idol thief faces.
Moreover, the police take minimal interest in pursuing such cases and in recovering idols and antiques, once they are stolen. Most of such cases are closed after a couple of months and no gang worth its name has been busted so far. Statistics mirror this reality. Over the last 40 years (1975-2015) of the 70 thefts reported by ASI, only 28 have been solved. The situation vis-a-vis state-protected monuments is worse. Only 63 of the 220 antiques stolen from various monuments have been recovered and the remaining 157 remain untraced. This translates into a success rate of a measly 29 per cent. “The police are not much bothered about antique thefts. They register a case and that’s that”, says DK Mathur, Deputy Director of State Archaeology.
The local people, who can play a very important role in preserving the relics, are, unfortunately, more often than not, hand-in-gloves with the thieves. In fact, in almost all cases it is a local influential person who is the contact man of the racketeers. These people also oppose attempts by archaeology department to shift images and idols lying in isolated spots, such as those embedded in trees, to museums. Religious sentiments are the most potent weapons used in such cases.
In fact, as a society, we are rather apathetic to preserving our ancient heritage. It is not uncommon to find phrases like ‘Raju loves Reena’ etched on monuments. Perhaps, Raju or Reena or both must have thought this as the best way of declaring their love to the world! “I agree that we are not as focussed on the need to preserve our prestigious heritage as European nations are. And we do need to sensitise our people in this respect,” says N. Taher, head of the Bhopal circle of the ASI. Echoes Dr. Mathur, “People of olden times built monuments so that their coming generations remembers them. But nowadays we believe in disposable culture”. Involvement of museum and archaeological department staff in cases of thefts is also common. In fact, relics from a museum cannot be stolen without the co-operation of the staff. In the past, many employees of the state archaeology department have been suspended and enquiries initiated against them for their role in thefts.
Low budget of the archaeology department is also one reason why it is a helpless spectator to the loss of precious heritage. The state government spares only a hundredth part of one per cent of its annual budget for the department and in this amount, it has to look after the monuments, pay salaries to its staff, conduct excavations and surveys and do a host of other things.
Parrot Lady
The three-foot high statue of ‘Parrot Lady’ turned up in Canada in 2011 in the possession of an individual who did not have proper documentation and was seized by the authorities. Due to its distinctive Chandela art features, it was easily identified as belonging to Khajuraho. In 2013, the Canadian police informed the Ministry of Culture of the Government of India about the seizure. In 2014, the Ministry enquired from ASI, Bhopal. But according to ASI,Bhopal Circle, the Parrot Lady might have been stolen before 1952-53 or may be it was stolen from outside the protected monuments. The ‘Parrot Lady’ is what is known as a naayika, or heroine. She is voluptuous, scantily clad, posed in a manner that is a tad saucy, and has a parrot on her back. She is just one of many erotic stone ladies that were created to adorn the Khajuraho temples.
Theft cases of cultural properties in MP
Year From ASI-protected From State-protected
monuments monuments
1975-1980 6 63
1981-1990 29 127
1991-2000 17 17
2001- 2010 18 9
2011-2015 Nil 4
TOTAL 70 220
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