Jaishankar presides over repatriation of two stolen idols in U.K.

EAM Jaishankar presides over repatriation of 8th-century temple idols stolen from India, recovered in UK. India Pride Project, Art Recovery International and Indian High Commission in London worked together to return the Yogini Chamunda and Yogini Gomukhi idols to their home country. Jaishankar: Cultural exchanges must be legal, transparent & rules-based. India Pride Project, Art Recovery Int'l & Indian High Commission in London worked to restore India's lost artefacts. EAM: Aim to find amicable solutions to enable heritage to go back to where it is most appreciated.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Wednesday presided over a repatriation ceremony in London for two 8th-century temple idols stolen from India and discovered in England recently.

The Yogini Chamunda and Yogini Gomukhi idols, stolen from a temple in Lokhari in Uttar Pradesh between the late 1970s and the early 1980s, were recovered by the High Commission of India in London with support from India Pride Project, and Art Recovery International.

Mr. Jaishankar unveiled the idols at India House on the final day of his five-day visit to the U.K. and said he looked forward to their return to their home country.

“It is important today, as we look to appreciate each other's culture, to ensure that cultural exchanges are legal, transparent and rules-based,” said Mr. Jaishankar.

“Where there have been deviations, whenever these are corrected I think this is something of great importance, not just in this case, but as a message that this is a practice which is not acceptable in this day and age,” he said.

'Yogini' refers to female masters of the yogic arts with 64 divine Yoginis worshipped as goddesses at Yogini temples such as Lokhari. The term is slightly ambivalent as it applies both to the goddesses and adept worshippers, who were believed to be able to take on some of the goddesses’ powers by performing secret rituals before the statues.

The Lokhari temple is believed to have 20 Yogini statues, depicted as beautiful women with the heads of animals.