Famed US museum to repatriate stolen artefacts

Famed US museum to repatriate stolen artefacts

Subject :History

Section: Art and Culture

Concept :

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is returning 15 antiquities to the Government of India after having learned that these were “illegally removed” from India.

Art works returned

• The sculptures date back from the 1st century BCE to the 11th century CE, and include terracotta, copper, and stone works.
• Among the antiquities is an enthralling sandstone sculpture of Apsara, the celestial dancer.
• The 33.5­inch tall sculpture from Madhya Pradesh dates back to the mid­11th century CE and is worth $10,00,000 (around ₹ 82crore).
• A 1st ­century BCE ceramic pot from Chandraketugarh (archaeological site near Kolkata), a stone bust of Kamadeva, the God of Love, from the second half of the 8th century CE, and a Svetambara­ enthroned Jina, with attendant Yaksha and Yakshi, belonging to the 11th century CE, are also part of the antiquities.

Apsara Sculpture

• An apsara is a heavenly dancer and celestial maiden who accompanies the gods in Hindu mythology.
• Featuring prominently in sculpture, dance, literature and painting from India, Indonesia, China and Cambodia, apsaras are thought to personify the performing arts.
• This sensual, sandstone figure came from the walls of a Hindu temple at Khajuraho in North India.
• She stands relaxedly in a tribhanga pose, a gentle, curving S-shaped stance constituted by three bends in the body at the neck, waist and knee.
• This posture is considered one of the most graceful and sensual of the positions in the Odissi, a major Indian classical dance that originated in the Hindu temples of Odisha, an eastern coastal state of India.
• Her lyrical curves evoke the lilting rhythm of music and dance.
• Kama (desire, longing or enjoyable experience) is a central tenet of Hinduism and is considered an integral part of spirit and creation.