Antiquities

Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy on Wednesday said 229 antiquities, which were taken out of India during different eras, have been retrieved from overseas during the past eight years, while this number was only 13 before 2014, reflecting the Centre's resolve to bring valuable articles associated with cultural pride back to the country. Asked about bringing back the Kohinoor diamond from Britain, Reddy said he would like the famed jewel to be in the country. He was talking to reporters on the margins of the first G20 working group meeting of culture which began at Maharaja Chhatrasal Convention Centre (MCCC) at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur district. The meeting will go on till February 25 at Khajuraho, an ancient city known for its magnificent temples and intricate sculptures and located some 370km from the state capital Bhopal. India currently holds the presidency of G20 or Group of 20 - an intergovernmental forum of the world's major developed and developing ...

A total of 229 antiquities have been retrieved from foreign countries since 2014, the government said on Thursday and asserted that the Centre is committed to bring back antiquities of Indian-origin which were taken away from the country. Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy was also asked in a written query as to whether the government is making any plan for "bringing back the Kohinoor diamond from England". Among the set of queries, the minister was asked whether it is a fact that under the repatriation scheme, the government is fixing any accountability, on moral grounds, on the foreign forces which oppressed India for a long period, to which Reddy in a written response, said, "No sir, there is no such scheme". Asked whether the government is contemplating bringing back valuable articles of ancient Indian heritage taken abroad, the minister responded with data. The government of India is "committed to bring back the antiquities of Indian origin which were taken away from India"

The artefacts were showcased at a makeshift exhibit at the feet of the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, 24 km southwest of the capital

Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought back 157 artefacts and antiquities, which were handed over to India by the US during his visit

India has no record of how many artefacts have been stolen from temples and archaeologically-significant sites

Amendments to the antiquities Act have been on the cards for a while, and it is hoped the government will ease these sooner rather than later. The opening of a museum within Purana Qila in Delhi augur

The antiquities were 'voluntarily returned' by the countries between 2014 and 2017