तस्वीरें: 130 साल बाद हिंदू देवी की मूर्ति का सिर जुड़ा

कंबोडिया में हुए एक विशेष समारोह में 17वीं सदी की एक मूर्ति के सिर को फिर से जोड़ा गया है।

लगभग 130 साल पहले हिंदू देवी की इस मूर्ति के सिर को अलग कर दिया गया था।

1880 के दशक में फ्रांसीसी शोधकर्ता मूर्ति के सिर को ताकेओ प्रांत में स्थित मंदिर से ले गए थे।

उस समय कंबोडिया में फ्रांस का शासन था।

एक फ्रांसीसी म्यूजिम ने कंबोडिया के अधिकारियों की आग्रह पर हाल में इसे लौटा दिया।

विशेष समारोह में 17वीं सदी की एक मूर्ति के सिर को फिर से जोड़ा गया है।

कंबोडिया में हुआ खास कार्यक्रम।

 

The head of a seventh-century Hindu statue has been reunited with its body almost 130 years after it was taken from Cambodia when it was a French colony.
The 47-kilogram head of the deity Harihara was repatriated by France, where it had been an exhibit at the Guimet Museum in Paris, France’s national museum of Asian art. The deity combines elements of Vishnu and Shiva, two major gods in the Hindu pantheon.

It was originally taken from the Phnom Da temple in Takeo Province in the south of the country by colonial administrator Etienne Aymonier and was taken to Paris for an exhibition in 1889, according to a press release issued by the French museum.

For the majority of its stay in France, it was unknown if the piece matched the body, which had remained in Phnom Penh.

When it was reattached, however, it was discovered to be a perfect fit, Chea Socheat, the Cambodian National Museum’s deputy director of conservation told the Cambodia Daily newspaper.

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The head of a Hindu deity’s statue from the 7th century was returned by France and reattached to its body today for display at a museum, more than 130 years after it was spirited away.

The stone sculpture is of Harihara, a deity that combines aspects of Vishnu and Shiva, the two most important gods in the Hindu pantheon who represent the creation of the universe and its destruction. It was taken from the Phnom Da temple in southern Takeo province by French researchers in 1882 or 1883 and was displayed at France’s Guimet Museum.

About 200 government officials, representatives of foreign governments, ambassadors and officials from the Guimet Museum attended the ceremony to reattach the head at the National Museum.

“After it was separated 130 years ago, we are welcoming the reunification of the head and the torso of Harihara,” Deputy Prime Minister Sok An said at the ceremony.

“According to our Khmer culture, the reunion is symbolic of prosperity.”

He appealed to other countries that hold Cambodian artifacts to return them.

A 1993 Cambodian law prohibits the removal of cultural artifacts without government permission. Pieces taken after that date have stronger legal standing to compel their owners abroad to return them.

But there is also general agreement in the art world that pieces are deemed to be acquired illegitimately if they were exported without clear and valid documentation after 1970 the year of a United Nations cultural agreement targeting trafficking in antiquities.

In October, Cambodia welcomed the return of two stone statues from the Angkor period that were looted during the country’s civil war and taken to Europe, where they spent the past three decades.

The sculptures a 9th century head of Shiva and a late 12th to early 13th century male divinity head were formally handed over by Norwegian collector Morten Bosterud.

Also in June 2014, three 1,000-year-old statues depicting Hindu mythology were brought back to Cambodia. They were also looted from a temple and put in Western art collections.

Cambodia was ruled by Hindu kings for centuries, and it was the main religion of the country before Buddhism took over. More than 90 per cent of Cambodians today are Buddhists.