Kochi: A 12th century idol that went missing from India about half a century back has been traced to New York In the US, media reports said.
The idol of goddess Parvathi was located at a privately owned Bonhams Auction House which has its headquarters at London, the reports said.
The 52 CM tall idol is one of the five that went missing from Natanapurishwarar Siva Temple, Kumbakonam, in 1971. It is worth 212,575 US dollars.
The technical genius of the Chola period is reflected in the idol.
The idol wing of Tamil Nadu police is all set to bring it back home. The cops are on a mission to retrieve similar idols from abroad.
Investigation began in 2019 after a trustee lodged a complaint about the missing idols.
India had beefed up steps to bring back idols that were smuggled out of the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had claimed in February that his government had brought back home 200 idols since 2014 that were smuggled out of the country.
One of them is the idol of lord Shiva in a dancing posture costing 5.1 mn US Dollars in the international market. The 900-year old idol was bought by the National Gallery of Australia in 2008.
In 2020, the UK returned three bronze medals stolen from Tamil Nadu about 40 years ago.
