PHOTOS: 29 priceless antiquities back in India from 'Down Under'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inspected the 29 antiquities that have been repatriated to India by Australia. 

The antiquities range in six broad categories as per themes -- Shiva and his disciples, Worshipping Shakti, Lord Vishnu and his forms, Jain tradition, portraits and decorative objects. 

These antiquities come from different time periods, with earlies dating to 9-10 century CE. These are primarily sculptures and paintings executed in variety of material -- sandstone, marble, bronze, brass and paper. 

The antiquities represent a large geographical region in India, antiquities are from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal. 

The Centre has a special task force, comprising of external affairs ministry and culture ministry officials, which tracks down stolen Indian artefacts and remains in constant touch with authorities in other countries to ensure their repatriation. 

The government has so far retrieved around 212 artefacts made of metal, stone and terracotta in the last seven years. To recall, the United States government had last year returned over 157 artefacts and idols during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the country in September. The first batch of 63 objects reached Delhi on in Npovember.

In February this year, Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy had informed that a 500-year-old idol of Lord Hanuman stolen a decade ago from Tamil Nadu had been brought home. The stolen idol retrieved by US Homeland Security was handed over to the High Commission of India in Canberra by the US Chargé D'Affaires on February 23.

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