India Pride Project (IPP), a volunteer group has been launched by two NRIs to bring back the lost artefacts of India. The initiative is on a countrywide awareness campaign to highlight the reality of several lost pieces of culture.
Vijay Kumar, co-founder of IPP, said that, "India was looted of more artefacts in the post-colonial era than under the British or Mughals." He is an art enthusiast himself and working as the general manager of a shipping company.
According to the India Pride Project (IPP), nearly 70,000 artefacts have gone missing from India, in which around 7,000 from Karnataka state alone. The volunteers works across the world and identifies stolen art. They traces its route and tries to restore it back to its rightful place. Due to the IPP efforts, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott returned Sripuranthan Nataraja to India.
“Among the five (artefacts) brought back to India through IPP last year is the celebrated Nataraja Idol of Brihadeeswara Temple in Tamil Nadu. The idol, stolen more than three decades ago, had reached museums in the U.S., and then Australia where it was sold for $1.5 billion,” said Mr. Seshadri Shankar, a Bengaluru-based IPP volunteer.
“We are working towards the release of 2,000 artefacts, but 262 are ready to be brought back as of now,” said a volunteer.
Anurag Saxena, a co-founder of IPP, said that, "Other countries are more helpful in returning pieces of art than India is in claiming what is rightfully ours." Anurag work as a chartered accountant and Asia-Pacific CEO for the World Education Foundation, UK. He spends his holidays in government offices attempting to bring back what he calls 'chori ka maal'.
"I live in Singapore. If I don't do what I'm doing now, I wouldn't know what to tell my 6-year-old about her country, apart from the Taj Mahal and Qutub Minar. In Indian villages, every other function happens in a temple. What if the idol there were to be stolen? It might just be a piece of stone for others but for people who believe in it, it's a big thing," Anurag said.
The volunteer group uses Twitter to spread the awareness among citizens. Its handle #BringOurGodsHome was among the top five trending hashtags. Recently, they organized an event in Bengaluru to enlist volunteers. Around 120 people took a pledge to bring back their heritage during the event.
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- Nandini
