[World Religion news] Stolen Hindu Artifacts Return Home as Nepal Celebrates Repatriation Efforts

The return of stolen Hindu artifacts to Nepal. For years, these artifacts were stolen and smuggled overseas. Now, dozens of statues depicting Nepal’s revered gods and goddesses are being returned to their Hindu-majority Himalayan abode. This marks a notable contribution to a global initiative aimed at repatriating such cultural artifacts to their countries of origin in Asia, Africa, and beyond.

In January, museums and a private collector in the U.S. returned four idols and masks of Hindu gods to Nepal. Among the returned items was a 16th-century statue of Uma-Maheswara, an incarnation of the deities Shiva and his consort Parvati, which was stolen 40 years ago. The circumstances of its theft and how it came to be in the possession of the Brooklyn Museum in New York are unclear.

The Uma-Maheswara statue was tracked by a Nepalese group representing the ethnic Newar community in the U.S. After a welcoming ceremony, the statue was positioned on a chariot and carried by devotees to a museum, where it will be securely stored until its permanent placement.

The return of these artifacts has brought immense joy to the local community1. Ram Maya Benjankar, a local resident, expressed her happiness and recalled that as a child, she had cried upon discovering that the statue had been stolen and had spent years in anticipation of its return.

Source: Conversation with Bing                                                                                   https://www.worldreligionnews.com/religion-news/hinduism/stolen-hindu-artifacts-return-home-as-nepal-celebrates-repatriation-efforts/