MET returns Durga idol to India

The prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) is returning an idol of Goddess Durga to India.

MET President and CEO Daniel Weiss signed a Memorandum of Understanding for return of the idol and handed it to India's Consul General in New York Sandeep Chakravorty.

"Recovering priceless antiquities…President & CEO of The MET Museum signed & handed over to CG Chakravorty the MOU for return of Durga Mahishasurmardini idol belonging to Chakravarteswara temple, Baijnath, Almora to ASI, India in presence of Minister KJ Alphons," the Indian Consulate here tweeted.

Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Tourism K J Alphons was also present on the occasion.

A report in the art website Artnet News quoted a statement from the MET, saying the idol was once enshrined in the Chakravarteswara temple at Baijnath. It was donated to the Museum in 2015.

"Museum staff recognised it from the cover of a book" by K P Nautiyal titled 'The Arcaheology of Kumann' and contacted the Archaeological Survey of India in 2017.

It is expected the sculpture will be returned to New Delhi this summer, the report said.