A repatriated statue is paraded prior to being placed in a temple in Lalitpur, Nepal on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: AP
An unknown number of sacred statues of Hindu deities were stolen from Nepal and smuggled abroad in the past. Now dozens are being repatriated to the Himalayan nation, part of a growing global effort to return such items to countries in Asia, Africa and elsewhere.
Last month, four idols and masks of Hindu gods were returned to Nepal from the U.S. by museums and a private collector. Among them was a 16th-century statue of Uma-Maheswara, an avatar of the gods Shiva and Parvati, that was stolen four decades ago. It was not clear who took it or how it ended up at the Brooklyn Museum in New York, which handed it over to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. More than 20 other stolen artefacts are in the pipeline to be repatriated to Nepal soon, according to Jayaram Shrestha, director at the National Museum in Kathmandu.
The majority of Nepal’s 29 million people are Hindu, and every neighbourhood has a temple that houses such items. They are rarely guarded, making it easy for thieves.
For Nepalese, the idols have religious significance but no monetary value. For smugglers, however, they can bring huge value abroad. For years, there was little attention given to the thefts or any effort made at recovery. That has changed in recent years as the government, art lovers and campaigners pursue stolen heritage items.
