Koh-i-Noor diamond has again grabbed the headlines of national dailies as talks and activism about its return to India has again been raised by many. Apart from this famous heritage of India, there are many other artifacts that are a part of India’s rich history, culture, and legacy that are still lying in museums in abroad. From time to time Archaeological Survey of India has been disclosing information about the number of artifacts that need to be retrieved from abroad.
Most of these artifacts were shipped out of the country during the colonial rule and ever since then it has been a struggle for India and our government to bring them back to where they originally belong. Many of the valuable artifacts have been brought back to India but still there are many that need to bring back home for the sake of the culture and heritage of this glorious nation.
From the long list of Indian artifacts currently residing in different countries here are 8 of the most valuable ones.
#1. Amravati railings:
Amravati railings are the limestone plaques that were used for covering the façade of the Stupa, which was once the centre of Buddhism in South-eastern India. And, at present these are located in The British Museum. Amravati railings are about 2000 years old and were excavated from Amaravathi village of Andhra Pradesh by 2 British explorers who then sold them to the British Museum.
#2. The Sultanganj Buddha:
Ironically, this one of its kind 2.3m tall bronze statue of Lord Buddha is now famous as Birmingham Buddha. This statue is around 1500 years old and weights around 500 kgs and currently placed in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. This statue was discovered in Sultanganj, Bihar during the construction of East Indian Railways.
#3. Saraswati Idol:
This pure white marble statue was recovered from Bhojasala, central India. This statue was placed in a temple from where it was misplaced and British official found it and took it to their homeland.
#4. Golden Throne Of Maharaja Ranjit Singh:
Right now, this is placed in Victoria & Albert museum of London. It took 10 years of Goldsmith Hafez Muhammad Multani to make this throne that has a wooden base, coated by pure gold, and has amazing carvings on it.
#5. Darya-ye Noor diamond:
This happens to be one of the biggest cut diamonds in the world and at present it is a part of the Iranian crown jewels. Just like Koh-i-Noor, this pale pink coloured diamond was also mined at Andhra Pradesh. This was in possession of the Mughal emperor till Nadir Shah invaded Delhi who among other valuable took away the Darya-ye Noor diamond.
#6. Wine Cup Of Shah Jahan:
Made with pure nephrite jade, this wine-cup of Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan is simply majestic. This cup has the date 1067 carved on it and at present it can be seen at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
#7. Tipu’s Tiger:
This interesting piece of artefact is basically a mechanical toy that was created in 18th century for King of Mysore, Tipu Sultan. This is a life-size figurine that measures 28 inches tall and 68 inches long. After the demise of the king, this statue was transported to Britain and one can view this at Victoria & Albert museum in present times.
#8. Tengpora Durga:
Interestingly, this is not a case of pre independence era, and it happened somewhere in between mid 90s. This is a 1,300 years old rare goddess Durga idol that disappeared from a village temple in Kashmir and then it was located in Linden-Museum of Germany.
It seems apart from the “Black Money” there are many other valuables currently placed beyond our borders and that need to be brought back home soonest possible.