The National Gallery of Australia
in Canberra
is the national art museum of Australia
as well as the largest art museum in Australia, holding more than
166,000 works of art. It was established
in 1967 by the Australian government as a national public art museum. The
geometry of the building is based on a triangle, most obviously manifested for
visitors in the coffered ceiling grids and tiles of the principal floor ~ and we are reading more of this because of
a 1000 year old Nataraja of Chola dynasty.
Chola dynasty ruled our land well and for long. The heartland of the Cholas was the
fertile valley of the Kaveri
River. Under Rajaraja Chola and his son Rajendra
Chola the dynasty became a military,
economic and cultural power in South Asia and South-East
Asia. The Cholas left a lasting legacy. Their patronage of Tamil
literature and their zeal in the building of temples has resulted in some great
works of Tamil literature and architecture. The Chola kings were avid builders
and envisioned the temples in their kingdoms not only as places of worship but
also as centres of economic activity. The Chola period is also remarkable for
its sculptures and bronzes.
The idols were sculpted intricately not for being admired
for their beauty but were ‘the ones meant for worship’ in the big temples
decorated by them…………… and sadly, we read about the news of a 1000-year-old Nataraja sculpture stolen from a
temple in Tamil Nadu and allegedly sold to the National Gallery of Australia
(NGA) in Canberra. The entry details in the Art Gallery
describes the statue of ‘dancing Nataraja’ as :
Chola dynasty (9th-13th
centuries)India
Shiva as Lord of the
Dance [Nataraja] 11th-12th century
bronze lost-wax casting
: 128.5 h x 106.0 w x 40.0 d cm
Purchased with the
assistance of the National Gallery of Australia Foundation 2008 : Accession No:
NGA 2008.1
The God is further described in their website as : *** Shiva as
Lord of the Dance is probably the best-known sculptural image in Indian art.
The powerful Hindu god Shiva appears encircled by flames, representing the
boundaries of the cosmos, as he performs his dance of destruction and creation.
The iconography for this popular depiction developed early in the Chola period
(ninth to thirteenth centuries) in south India. It was during that time,
under the patronage of the rulers of today’s Tamil Nadu, that bronze casting
reached its pinnacle for temple and shrine. The graceful elegance and delicate
intricacy of this sculpture is matched by the striking animation of the dancing
figure. Locks of hair and waist sash flying, Shiva beats the rhythm of creation
on the drum in his upper right hand. His raised left leg symbolises the
potential for liberation from the cycle of birth and rebirth. During this dance
of bliss, Shiva’s right foot quashes darkness and ignorance in the form of a
demonic dwarf. The swaying hood of a snake can be seen wrapped around one of
the god’s right arms, while another serpent appears in his tresses on the left.
Opposite, the upper torso of the river goddess Ganga (Ganges)
nestles in his matted hair which, in dance, has been likened to the spray of
the sacred river.
Ron Radford (ed), Collection highlights:
National Gallery of Australia,
NGA Publishing, Canberra, 2008 Text © National Gallery of Australia,
Canberra 2010
Earlier, the NGA had been denying any wrongdoing and had
even stated that they had not been approached by Indian Police / authorities.
Now following pressure, NGA has released a detailed press release explaining
the process of acquisition and the documents it had consulted. Here is an
extract of the Press release dated 13th June 2013
*** Information on
purchase of works of art from mr subhash kapoor through his gallery art of the
past, New york and the 11th – 12th century bronze sculpture of shiva as lord of
the dance [shiva nataraja] purchased in 2008 ** In light of recent stories in
the media, the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra wishes to make a
statement in relation to the purchase of works of art from Mr Subhash Kapoor
through his gallery Art of the Past, New York.
Mr Subhash Kapoor is an American citizen born in India who has operated the Art of the Past
gallery for over 30 years in Madison Avenue in New York City. Indian objects acquired from
Art of the Past are held by at least 18 major galleries and museums around the
world including the Metropolitan Museum New York,
Smithsonian’s Sackler Museum, Washington;
Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston and Virginia
Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond.
Works of art purchased from Art of the Past.
The National Gallery of Australia
owns 21 works of art from Art of the Past collected between 2002 and 2011:
13 sculptures (2 of which are in 2 parts) from South Asia
1 sculpture from Southeast Asia
1 painting
6 photographs
These acquisitions have been funded through a combination
of Government allocation and private donations. Mr Kapoor is currently facing
criminal proceedings in India.
As a result considerable attention has been given to the 11th – 12th century
bronze sculpture of Shiva as Lord of the Dance [Shiva Nataraja] in the
Gallery’s collection purchased in 2008. When the Gallery became aware of the
situation in July 2012, a meeting with the Indian High Commission in Canberra was immediately
arranged and the Gallery has stated publicly its willingness to cooperate with
relevant authorities on this matter.
The clarifications have raised more dust… and
reports question the the claims made by the Gallery earlier. Last year, the
Idol Wing of the Tamil Nadu Police unravelled the role of an international network
in the theft of 18 ancient bronze sculptures from two temples in Suthamali and
Sripuranthan. Their
investigations led to Kapoor’s arrest in Germany. He was extradited to India in July,
2012. The police, which found a visual match between the stolen Nataraja and
the one displayed in the NGA, sent a letter rogatory about six months ago,
seeking information. Amazingly, however, the NGA denied receiving it. This was
reported in The Hindu. When the
newspaper’s sources got in touch with the Australian Attorney General’s
Department that handles international requests for assistance, it refused to
either confirm or deny the receipt of a letter rogatory. A spokesperson, citing
Australian laws, said they could not disclose details. However, newspapers
across the world and blog sites that track illicit antiquities, kept the
pressure on and highlighted how various museums including the NGA had purchased
artefacts from Kapoor without verifying the provenance certificate — a record
of its successive ownership.
The gallery claimed it had verified a certificate issued
by the Art Loss Register, which mentioned that the Nataraja was not in its
register of stolen objects. The gallery consulted Tamil Nadu police websites
and liaised with a certain Chola bronze expert in India, it further stated. The Hindu
reports that the NGA refused to reveal the names of the experts consulted and
when correspondent of The Hindu spoke to
some well-known experts in ancient sculptures in Chennai; all of them denied
any knowledge of the Nataraja. The NGA had not contacted them. Police sources too
confirmed they were not contacted either. The most damaging evidence
challenging the claims of the NGA was published recently in ‘Chasing the
Aphrodite’ (chasingaphrodite.com), a blog site run by Jason Felch, a reporter
with the Los Angeles Times, and reports
that the “The story of the Washington owner was a fabrication, the records
show,” the blog says. The Idol Wing of the police had stated on their website
that one of Kapoor’s accomplices had shipped a consignment containing a stolen
Nataraja to the U.S.
in November 2006. Another claim by the NGA that it had checked records of the
Archaeological Survey of India before purchasing the Nataraja is not verifiable
since the gallery does not provide names of the persons it consulted.
The idol smuggler Subash Kapoor was arrested in Germany last
October for smuggling antique idols allegedly stolen from temples in Tamil Nadu
and Kerala. He was extradited to India two weeks ago and is in
custody in Chennai. It is further
reported that last week, US federal customs agents seized $US20 million worth
of Indian temple statues from four Manhattan
storage units allegedly leased by Mr Kapoor. They found dozens of ancient
carvings and bronze and sandstone religious statues that they believe were
taken from temples and other spiritual sites.
The New York Post quoted the Tamil Nadu deputy inspector
general, A.G. Pon Manickavel, as saying: “From what Kapoor told us, he earned
more than [$US11 million] by selling ancient idols stolen from temples in Tamil
Nadu [state].” The allegations have reverberated around the international art
world. “Some of the artefacts seized during this investigation – which are
stolen – have been displayed in major international museums worldwide,” the
Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Homeland Security
Department said. “Other pieces that match those listed as stolen are still
openly on display in some museums. HSI will aggressively pursue the illicit
pieces not yet recovered.”
It is often assumed,
that all antiquities in museum collections or on the art market were
illegally removed from their country of origin. To put it simply the Cholas or
any other dynasty for that matter – were great believers of Hinduism [Saiva or
Sri Vaishnava agamas] and the idols of God were only made to be kept in places
of worship. Sadly, in some places over the years when the villages lost their
economic sheen, people moved out or villages were destroyed by nature and other
means, there by the temples became somewhat neglected. Ruthless criminals have
exploited these and have stolen the antique idols and have shipped them abroad
illegally making huge money……… all those involved, those who stole, those who
abetted, those who assisted in moving them and those who bought fully aware
that they were not acquired legally – all needs to be punished.
For us the idols are Gods meant to be worshipped
– kept properly Temples, offered poojas
ritualistically……….. Aside, the following should pain the Asthiga [believers] ~
the next time you visit a bigger temple down South in Tamilnadu [be it a Sri Vaishnava Divyadesam or a famous Saivaite shrine] you
can observe that the Temple
would house number of Murthis [vigrahams of Gods]……….. the explanation offered would that ‘it was considered unsafe
keeping them in their original temples’ and hence kept here………… the idol of God for sure was earlier installed in that temple
following agamas and practices. It serves absolutely no purpose when a Murthi
is taken out of His temple and housed elsewhere
- at best it would be a exhibit – and its tremendous injustice to God,
to our ancestors who promoted our culture and built temples and to our
innerself.
With anguish – S. Sampathkumar.
Photos of Nataraja : source : http://nga.gov.au/
