Dancing Krishna Idol brought back to Tamil Nadu from Thailand

Tamil Nadu Police recovers stolen Chola-era idol of God Kaliya Kalki from Bangkok, Thailand after international investigation.

The Idol Wing-CID of the Tamil Nadu Police has brought back a Chola-era bronze idol of God Kaliya Kalki, also called Kaliya Marthana Krishna (Child Krishna dancing atop a serpent known as Kaliya), which was stolen several years ago from the State and recovered from Bangkok, Thailand.

Originally, the idol was recovered from British antique dealer Douglas Latchford, who bought it from another dealer, Subhash Chandra Kapoor’s Art of Past in Manhattan. The idol traversed three continents before reaching Indian soil.

R. Dhinakaran, Inspector-General of Police, Idol Wing, said, “Our investigation revealed that this metal idol belongs to the 11th-12th century (the later Chola period). It is suspected to have been stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu by Subhash Kapoor and his accomplice before 2005 and then sold to Douglas Latchford.”

A special team of the Idol Wing has been searching for missing/stolen idols and scouring the websites of foreign museums, art galleries, and museums run by private art collectors to locate idols smuggled out of Tamil Nadu temples. While searching such websites last year, the team came across an article, ‘Gold of the Gods’, which was published in November 2008 and authored by Luis Nicolson. It carried a photograph of the idol.

The team also came across another article, ‘Hold onto Your Hat’, authored by Latchford and published in 2019 on the website of the Association for Research into Crimes Against Art. It said Douglas Latchford had collected the same Kaliya Marthana Krishna idol. Latchford was a collector of antique pieces from Cambodia, India, and other countries. Further investigation revealed that the Krishna idol was in the possession of Homeland Security Investigations, a federal law enforcement agency in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The investigation revealed that Latchford (who died in 2020) had collected this idol from Kapoor in 2005, and the documents showed that the value fixed for the idol at the time of purchase was $6,50,000 (₹5.2 crore). One Nancy Weiner, of the U.S., an appraiser, is suspected to have helped Kapoor create fake appraisal and provenance reports.

Based on the information, a case was registered by the Idol Wing, and G. Balamurugan, Additional Superintendent of Police, Idol Wing-CID, Central Zone, Tiruchi, was nominated as the investigating officer. Mr. Dhinakaran said that thanks to the sustained efforts of the Idol Wing and international cooperation, the idol was recovered by Homeland Security Investigations and handed over to the Government of Thailand on October 11, 2023. It was then transferred to the High Commission of India in Bangkok. Subsequently, owing to the efforts of the Idol Wing, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs, and the Archaeological Survey of India, the Government of Thailand sent the idol to India last June. The Idol Wing received it in New Delhi on Wednesday. It will be produced at the Special Court in Kumbakonam. Efforts were being made to identify the temple from where it was stolen, Mr. Dhinakaran said.