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Crown treasures to be put on display

Sanjay Suri in London

Priceless Indian treasures that are part of the queen's collection that will not be returned to India can be seen at the largest exhibition of crown treasures to be launched next year.

Among the riches on display will be the famous Bird of Paradise from the throne of Tipu Sultan.

The British took away this priceless figure in gold and emeralds after the death of the legendary warrior king of Mysore. The Indian treasures will be part of many to be displayed in the largest ever exhibition of crown treasures.

The exhibition will mark the golden jubilee of the coronation of the queen.

The exhibition will open at the Buckingham Palace in May and is expected to last nine months. In all 437 of the best artefacts from the royal collection will be on display.

The two big auction houses in London, Christie's and Sotheby's, regularly auction treasures from India. Others are housed in Britain's many museums, notably the Victoria & Albert Museum.

But the collection that lies with the queen is unrivalled. The palace will also exhibit other treasures, including paintings by European painters like Rembrandt and Van Dyck. The palace is reportedly keen not to overplay any suggestion of British Raj nostalgia.

The Indian treasures on display will still be only a tiny fraction of what the queen has in her collection.

An inventory of objects in her possession has never been made public. There are periodic demands in India for the return of the Kohinoor diamond, which sits in the crown of the queen's mother.

Other emotive demands continue to be made for the return of such treasures as Shivaji's sword and some of the possessions of Guru Gobind Singh. The palace is reportedly keen not to fuel such demands by showing too much that India might want back.

Indo-Asian News Service

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