Business Standard
The Netherlands on Saturday handed back 11th-century Chola dynasty copper plates to India, in an event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, signifying the strengthening of ties between the two countries. PM Modi arrived in the Netherlands on Friday - after a brief stopover in the UAE - on the second leg of his five-nation tour that also includes Sweden, Norway and Italy. India has been pursuing the return of the Anaimangalam Copper Plates, known in the Netherlands as the Leiden Plates, since 2012. The 21 copper plates are considered the most significant surviving records of the Chola dynasty and are among the important artefacts of Tamil heritage held anywhere outside India. The copper plates, belonging to the times of Rajaraja Chola I, weigh approximately 30 kilograms and are bound together by a bronze ring bearing the royal seal of the Chola dynasty. The plates are divided into two sections: one has texts in Sanskrit, the other in Tamil. Rajaraja Chola I was a Hindu empero
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