KATHMANDU: Three medieval idols stolen from Nepal and brought to New York, USA have been brought to Kathmandu. Statues of Apsara, Buddha and Ganesh brought to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation from the Nepalese Embassy in the United States were handed over to the National Museum on Thursday. All three statues will now be kept in the museum.
All three statues returned to Nepal date back to the 13th, 14th and 15th or 16th centuries. The ministry said it was not sure where the idols went missing. But the wooden tundals with colorful sculptures of nymphs are similar to the medieval tundals in the Indreshwar temple at Panauti. Based on that, it is considered to be a 13th century statue.
The statues were on display at the New York Museum for a fixed price. The price of the statue of the nymph was 2500 dollars, the golden statue of the Buddha sitting on the ground and the statue of Ganesha sitting on the ground was valued at 50/50 thousand US dollars.
The Department of Archeology filed a lawsuit against the statue in 1970, citing "conventions on the ownership of cultural property, prohibition of illegal imports, exports and relocation," following reports that the statue was in various US museums. Article 7 of the Convention states that cultural property exported illegally to another country must be returned, subject to national law. The treaty, signed by 141 nations, provides for the return of idols brought by another country if stolen or purchased by another country.
After Nepal officially claimed the statue on the basis of the same convention, an agreement was reached between the Acting Consul General in the United States and the District Attorney's Office in New York on March 6, 2008 regarding the return of the statue.
Director General of the Department of Archeology Gautam says the returned idols are invaluable. According to the ministry, a person has been arrested for smuggling these idols and artefacts. The identity of the person involved in the smuggling has not been disclosed. He is being held in South Indian prisons and is being extradited to the United States, the ministry said.
How much does it cost to return the statue?
Generally, when the idols stolen from Nepal are returned, the country or museum does not have to pay. However, if the idol is found to have been purchased before the ban on idol export, a certain compensation has to be paid on the basis of the bill.
According to Director General Gautam, the statue, which was recently handed over to the National Museum, has been returned at a cost of ३१ 3,100. This amount was provided to the United Parcel Service through the Consulate General in New York and the responsibility of sending the idol to Nepal was given.
1 million budget to return the statue
The government has allocated budget for the fiscal year 2078/79 to return the statue.
According to Director General Gautam, Rs 1 million has been allocated for the coming fiscal year. Although this amount is not enough to return the stolen property from Nepal, Director General Gautam is confident that the regular budget from the next fiscal year will help in finding many lost properties.
How many lost idols came back?
According to the Department of Archeology, 40 statues returned from the United States in 2051 are housed in the National Museum.
The statue of Uma Maheshwar, which was stolen and taken to Germany, was returned by the German government in 2056 BS. According to the department, the statue is now kept in the Patan Museum. The statue is a 12th century statue lost from Dhulikhel.
Similarly, the statue of Dipankar Buddha, who returned from Austria in 2059 BS, is also kept in the relevant place.
The idol of Garudasan Vishnu, which was returned from the American Museum on September 9, 2056 BS, was stolen from Jaisi Deval in Kathmandu. The statue has also been returned, according to the department's curio branch. Besides, the Buddha statue stolen from Kilbahal in Patan has also been returned.
A 12th-century statue of Brahma disappeared from the orchard in the 1980s. That idol has also been returned. The idols of Saraswati stolen or lost from Pharping, Surya stolen or lost from Panauti etc. have been returned from the respective countries and kept in the National Museum.
The 19 statues returned from the UK on July 26, 2053 are currently housed in the National Museum. A total of 28 statues recovered from Lansa Tibet, stolen from Yanser Jakchumlin Monastery in Dolpa district, have been returned to the National Museum and sent back to Dolpa from the museum.
On the same day, a black stone statue of Buddha and a stone statue of Uma Maheshwar in the United States' Metropolitan Museum of Art Network were returned to the Department of Archeology and delivered to the National Museum. In the 1960's and 80's, about 500 ancient and later statues disappeared from Nepal. The four statues in Larry Ellen Inerich's personal collection, which were found in the Department of Archeology on July 2, 2074, were returned from the United States after his death.
Among the four statues are a 15th-century bronze statue of Buddha, a 15th-century statue of Amoghpani Lokeshwar, a 16th-century statue of Amoghpani Lokeshwar and a 17th-century statue of Manjushri.
According to the department, the idols brought to Nepal will be replaced in the old place if the local administration, local government and security agencies guarantee that they will be kept in the old place.
Photos: Chandra Bahadur Ale / Onlinekhabar
