Profile
Settings
Refer your friends
Sign out
In London, the High Commission of India presented India with a 10th century stone statue of goat head Yogini. The idol was unlawfully seized from a temple in Lokhari, Uttar Pradesh. It was sometime in the 1980s that the theft occurred. The goat-headed Yogini sculpture was part of a sandstone deity group at the Lokhari temple. A similar sculpture of the buffalo-headed Vrishanana Yogini was stolen from the same temple in Lokhari in 2013 and was recovered by India. let us know the brief about the lokhari temple and the state of the lokhari temple, which state
A Statue Was Discovered in the Backyard of a Private London Property
In 1986, Indian researcher Vidya Dahejiya conducted research on behalf of the National Museum in New Delhi, ultimately published as ‘Yogini Cult and Temples: A Tantric Tradition.’ The Indian High Commission got word in October 2021 that a goat-headed elf sculpture had been discovered in the yard of private property near London. It matched the Lokhari collection’s description. Lokhri is a tiny village in the Banda District of Uttar Pradesh, located in the Mau Sub-Division. The Tantric form of worship is connected with a group of powerful female divinities known as Yoginis. They are worshipped as a group, usually in groups of 64, and are said to have boundless abilities.
Sculptured Lokhari Temple
It has been discovered that the sculpture mentioned above was temporarily available on the London art market in 1988. In October 2021, the Indian High Commission got information regarding the discovery in the backyard of private property near London of a goat-headed Yogini Sculpture that fitted the description of the Lokhari set.
While the High Commission of India filed the necessary papers with local and Indian authorities, the India Pride project Singapore and Art Recovery International, London quickly aided the High Commission of India, London, in identifying and recovering the Statue.
Lokhari Temple, Which State
In 2013, the Embassy of India in Paris discovered and returned a similar sculpture of the buffalo-headed Vrishanana Yogini, taken from the same temple in Lokhari village. In September 2013, Thee Vrishanana Yogini was displayed in the National Museum in New Delhi. The sculpture was once part of a collection of sandstone deities. In 2013, a similar sculpture of the buffalo-headed Vrishanana Yogini, stolen from the same Lokhari temple, was discovered in Paris.
Lokhari temple is a tiny hamlet in the Banda district of Uttar Pradesh, located in the Mau sub-division. The Tantrik form of worship is linked with a group of powerful female divinities known as Yoginis. They are worshipped as a group, usually in groups of 64, and are said to have boundless abilities.
Goat Head Yogini
The Goat Head Yogini, who arrived at the High Commission on Makar Sankranti, has been sent to the Archaeological Survey of India in New Delhi.
Even though many stolen sculptures and other cultural items, which were often smuggled out of the nation, were eventually tracked down in the United States, Australia, and Europe, the majority of them could not be repatriated owing to legal issues. The Vrishanana Yogini’s return is notable since the sculpture was donated by Schrimpf’s widow and could be returned without any difficulty.
Lokhari Temple
“Three things worked in our favour: we established its authenticity based on the picture in the museum’s 1986 book Yogini: Cult and Temples – A Tantric Tradition; the widow of the French art collector couldn’t confirm the source of its acquisition; and the art collector’s donation letter was executed through an attorney,” said J E Dawson, Curator (Archaeology) of the National Museum, who had to travel to Paris to make a certain case for the painting.
On September 19, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Culture Minister Chandresh Kumar Katoch will jointly launch a unique exhibition at the National Museum to commemorate this “homecoming.”
“The recovery of Vrishanana Yogini is a success of the country’s long-term efforts to reclaim its stolen artefacts,” said Anupa Pande, Dean of the National Museum Institute. It was returned to India by the Indian Embassy in Paris. The Tantric form of worship is connected with a group of powerful female divinities known as Yoginis. They are worshipped as a group, usually in groups of 64, and are said to have boundless abilities.
Conclusion
While the High Commission of India completed the relevant documentation with local and Indian authorities, the India Pride Project in Singapore and Art Recovery International in London aided the High Commission of India in London in accelerating the identification and recovery of the statue. Let us remind you that the Indian Embassy in Paris, France, retrieved a similar statue of Vrishna Yogini with the head of a buffalo in 2013. This idol was taken from the same Lokhri temple as the goat head yogini idol. In September 2013, the Testament Yogini Statue was unveiled at the National Museum in New Delhi.
