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The bronze Shiva Nataraja, circa 12th century, was stolen in the 1960s from a temple in India and smuggled into New York

The US on Thursday returned 248 antiquities, including a 12th century bronze Shiva Nataraja, valued at an estimated $15 million to India, the “largest” such transfer of antiquities to the country.

The US returned the 248 antiquities valued at an estimated USD 15 million to India during a repatriation ceremony attended by India Consul General Randhir Jaiswal and US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Deputy Special Agent in Charge Erik Rosenblatt.

The US on Thursday returned 248 antiquities, including a 12th-century bronze Shiva Nataraja, valued at an estimated $15 million to India, the "largest" such transfer of antiquities to the country. "This extraordinary assemblage of artifacts, recovered from five different criminal investigations over the past decade, embodies the timeless cultural and cosmic bridge between ancient and modern-day India," Manhattan District Attorney (DA) Cy Vance, Jr said in a statement.

Mehrdad Sadigh, who has operated Sadigh Gallery in Midtown Manhattan since 1982, admitted to selling thousands of fake artifacts for three decades. 'I was drive by financial greed,' he said.