By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: India has been successful in bringing back over 200 stolen antiquities and idols in the last seven years, PM Narendra Modi said on Sunday. “The history of each of our idols also depicts the influence of their times.”
Not only they are wonderful artistic examples of Indian sculpture; our faith is also connected with them. But, in the past, many idols were stolen and kept being taken out of India,” the PM said in his radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’, adding that it has become the responsibility of the government to bring back all the stolen idols and antiques.
“Till 2013, nearly 13 idols had been brought back to India. But, in the last seven years, India has successfully brought back more than 200 precious idols. Many countries such as America, Britain, Holland, France, Canada, Germany, Singapore have understood the sentiment of India and helped us to retrieve these idols.”
The PM highlighted the return of an idol of Avalokiteshvara Padmapani from Italy that was stolen from Kundalpur temple in Bihar’s Gaya district. Another case was the 700-year idol of Lord Anjaneyaa Hanuman – stolen from Vellore in Tamil Nadu – that was brought from Australia.
Modi also outlined the importance of mother language in the context of the recently celebrated International Mother Language Day (Feb 21). Indians are proud to be associated with 121 forms of mother tongues and 14 of these languages are spoken by more than 1 crore people, he said.
