The National Gallery of Australia announced Thursday it will return 14 works of art from its Asian art collection to the Indian government.
Some significant works to be returned
Chola dynasty (9th-13th centuries), The child-saint Sambandar, 12th century, purchased 1989
Seated Jina, 1163 - Mount Abu region, Rajasthan
Goddess Durga slaying the buffalo demon [Durga Mahisasuramardini], 12th-13th century, - Gujarat
Letter of invitation to Jain monks; picture scroll [vijnaptipatra], c. 1835- Rajasthan
About Sambandar
Sambandar, also referred to as Thirugnana Sambandar was a Saiva poet-saint of Tamil Nadu who lived sometime in the 7th century CE. He was a contemporary of Appar, another Saiva poet-saint.
According to the Tamil Shaiva tradition, he composed an oeuvre of 16,000 hymns in complex meters, of which 383 (384) hymns with 4,181 stanzas have survived.
These narrate an intense loving devotion (bhakti) to the Hindu god Shiva.
The surviving compositions of Sambandar are preserved in the first three volumes of the Tirumurai, and provide a part of the philosophical foundation of Shaiva Siddhanta.
Vijñaptipatras (Letters)
The custom of sending vijñaptipatras originated in Gujarāt-Kaṭhiāwād and was the practice followed by the Śvetāṃbara Jaina community.
The vijñaptipatras were written in Sanskrit and some parts in local dialect like Māiwādi and Gujarāti.
The vijñaptipatras were chiefly meant to invite a Jaina āchārya or preceptor to stay with a Jaina saṅgha or community of a particular locality during the next chaumāsā, i.e., the period of the four months of the rainy season when touring is not allowed to a Jaina monk.
While conveying the invitation, these letters were meant to atone for the acts of commission and omission of the members of a saṅgha and to convey their good wishes for the whole of humanity.
The vijñaptipatras also contain references to various topics and often gave historical information of considerable interest.
They usually convey in pictorial form a description of the locality from which the invitation was issued, and these exciting pictures are valuable for various studies.