“The Idol Thief” (Juggernaut) is a first-hand non-fiction account uncovering the theft and sale of priceless idols from India to overseas collectors. S. Vijay Kumar is a Singapore based shipping and finance expert who started a blog on art in 2007. This led him to discover the murky world of idol thieves operating in India and a chain of well entrenched middlemen and smugglers spread across the world. The book goes on to unmask the many influential people, the elite of the art collecting world, involved in this unsavory business. The villains who buy and trade in stolen art, specially idols of gods, reside overseas and comprise of private collectors and museums of international repute.
I met S. Vijay Kumar after he had spoken about his book at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2022. His deep understanding of the subject convinced me that the man was highly committed to what he preaches. What makes his book so meaningful is that Vijay Kumar is actively engaged in bringing to justice the full range of what he calls the unholy triumvirate “The Robber-smuggler, the Buyer and finally the Experts”. According to him, these three types drive a thriving trade involving millions of dollars and operating across continents. From a thousand-year old village temple, the author takes us on a riveting journey across countries, to posh hotels and museums in New York and Singapore. The author understands the iconography, style and methodology to date ancient idols and statues. Metal and stone images are imposiible to date as they have no carbon content, hence this is aformidable task for any expert.
Unfortunately for India this book is not a piece of fiction and the theft of these priceless statues and idols is very much an ongoing reality. It appears that even today many continue to ply this reprehensible trade of looting India’s rich heritage.
Fearlessly the author names many individuals whose business of stealing, smuggling and selling ancient idols from India is brought to an unceremonious end with his active assistance. He is unsparing when it comes to unmasking the corrupt and lackadaisical approach of the Indian police, ASI and other departments. The famous museums and auction houses in UK, USA and Australia seem to be complict and almost hand in glove with the sellers of stolen idols. On the other hand the author praises overseas enforcement agencies especially in USA and Germany who are very committed to their work once they decide to take up the matter for investigation. He is deeply indebted to one “Indy” from the US enforcement agencies who actively assists in putting some of the key Indian and American criminals behind bars and returning many stolen idols back to India. The author describes the glamorous life of one Subhash Kapoor who is the king pin of this business. Some good investigative work and the revenge of a jilted lover helped, and he is finally locked up in jail.
From his childhood, the author developed a deep love and respect for idols of gods and goddesses of his village temples in Tamil Nadu. He writes about the unfathomable affection and regard of the priests and villagers as the temple idols are bathed, fed and taken for rest with lullabies. As Vijay Kumar puts it “They (idols) are meant to be seen when your senses are consumed by the smells of ghee and incense and fresh flowers and camphor. They are not meant to be seen behind cages of glass, inside sterile museums”. He pleads that collectively we must ensure that these “idols remain in their homes, in these temples. They belong to the village commune first and then to all of us”. It becomes quite apparent that individual efforts can yield noticeable results in the seizure of stolen idols. Between 2014 and 2018 twenty-seven artefacts were brought back to India, the author and his team played their part in this process. There were zero restitutions between 2000 and 2012.
For S. Vijay Kumar this book is a product of his immeasurable love and affection for the idols of India’s temples. When one reads this detailed account one is shocked at the unimaginable level of greed human beings are capable of, for enriching themselves. The appendix and notes provide valuable information to support the author’s assertions and would be most useful if a reader wishes to get more involved in this subject. I am so glad to have met the author and introduced him to friends during the Jaipur Literature Festival. They could possibly assist him on his unfinished journey of putting a complete stop to this unholy and shameful business of looting idols from Indian temples and selling them to rich collectors overseas. I am confident that this book will be made into a film someday as it has all the elements of a successful Bollywood movie.
