This is the story of an centuries-old Goddess Durga idol in a temple in the Tengpora place of Pulwama region, Kashmir, India.

Tengpora Durga idol is a 18-handed scuplture belonging to the 8th century period. It is believed to be one of the best sculpture works in the world continuously worshipped for a long period spanning centuries. 

The idol is believed to have disappeared from the temple in the early 1990s, among many other idols vanished during the same period from Kashmir.

Roughly 10 years after the disappear, the idol was believed to have appeared with Subhash Kapoor in his collection of Madison Avenue Gallery. It was Dr Kal, a Kashmiri CEO of an American company who first saw that.  Later, one of the authorities from Archeological Survey of India (ASI) Dr. Pal also identified that as the same Tengpora Durga idol that disappeared in Kashmir.

In the later period, Dr Pal visited the  Linden Museum of Germany as a guest Speaker and surprisingly, he found the same Tengpora Durga idol in display over there.

Upon enquiry, he understood that the idol was sold to the Museum by Indian antique smuggler for USD 25000.

Dr Kaul and Dr Pal had tried their best to get the idol back to India. That became easy after the US Government arrested Subhash in some other case for dealing on some other antique pieces. Then the Linden Museum calmly removed it from there Gallery.

Meanwhile, some antique expert reports in the public domain also have information about this idol.

Considering all these aspects and with the help of Indian Embassy there, the Goddess was finally brought back to India.

Post this, the Lindem Museum requested the ASI and Government of India to give this idol to them. But that never happened!

As Kaul describes, the idol measures 68. 6 cm in height and 42.3 cm wide and is made of green chlorite stone.

(Info Source : Open Online)