Ball State Shiva and Parvati

Ball State Shiva and Parvati

At some point in the early 2000's, perhaps 2004, a Chola Period 'Festival Bronze' sculpture depicting Shiva and Parvati was stolen from a temple somewhere in Tamil Nadu. According to Vijay Kumar and research conducted by his India Pride Project in conjunction with the Idol Wing of the Tamil Nadu Criminal Investigation Department (IW-CID), the base of the statue has an inscription in Tamil that reads: Thipampaapuram Sivigai Naayagar.

There are only a few temples in Tamil Nadu that have names such as Thirupampuram, Thipamburam and so on. Importantly, Kumar's research suggested that the condition of the sculpture in the early 2000s indicated that it was actively being worshiped at the time of its theft. It was sold in 2005, however it might have been first removed from the Sivan temple in the village of Deepambalpuram, Tamil Nadu, much earlier.

In 2005, Ball State University Museum of Art in Indiana, US, acquired this sculpture from Subhash Kapoor s Art of the Past gallery in New York. It was purchased for USD $100,000 with the financial backing of several donors to commemorate the honorary degree given to David T Owsley, the grandson of the university's founder. The purchase itself was approved by the then-Director Peter Blume. Kapoor claimed full and legal title, but also presented the museum with false provenance documents in the form of a letter attributed to Indian art collector Leo Figiel. Figiel's letter stated the sculpture derived "From a European collection in 1969".

After Kapoor's long-term record of antiquities smuggling became public following his arrest in October 2011, US Homeland Security Investigations began 'Operation Hidden Idol' to investigate Kapoor items in numerous museums. The David Owsley Museum's then-Director Robert De La France pledged a full evaluation of their collection and identified only the Shiva and Parvati as being purchased from Kapoor. Full cooperation was also provided to HSI. The sculpture was recovered in 2021 and sent to New York as evidence against Kapoor. It was later forfeited and repatriated to India with 'at least' six other Chola bronzes.

1

Chola Period, circa 860 - 1279 C.E.

David Owsley Museum of Art

2005.011

India

Jason Felch

Damien Huffer