U.S. Sending 1,000-Year-Old Stolen Hindu Artifacts Back to India

UPI
By Ed Adamczyk

A statue of the Hindu god Ganesh, believed to be 1,000 years old, is among the stolen artifacts the United States seized and will return to India.

WASHINGTON,DC---More than 200 ancient artifacts stolen from religious sites in India were returned by the United States, coinciding with the U.S. visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi and U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch participated in a repatriation ceremony in Washington on Monday. The valuable religious and art objects were looted from some of India's most revered religious sites over several years and offered for sale in the United States. They include a 1,000-year-old bronze statue of Hindu mystic Saint Manikkavichavakar that was taken from a Chennai, India, monastery, and a bronze sculpture of the Hindu god Ganesh, also believed to be about 1,000 years old. The artifacts will be returned to India gradually, after legal formalities are completed. [link]