SURKHET, April 28: The idols of Hindu gods and goddesses that that were stolen from Jumla's Chandannath temple have been replaced and reinstated. 

The God Dattatreya's 18 – kilo statue and 21 other idols were stolen on November 26, 2016 from the Chandannath temple, a pilgrimage site in Karnali. Most of the idols were found on January 3, 2017 in a nearby river at Depal village, but six idols had remained unaccounted for. 

Chandannath Bhairavnath Guthi Sansthan's Secretary, Ramananda Acharya, said Dattatreya's new statue was built in India's Dehradun. 

The place where the idol was located remained vacant for one and a half years after which Baba Bhawani Giri from Dehradun paid the cost of construction of Dattatreya's another idol and transported it to Jumla with help of two priests. 

The idol has been placed at the original location within the temple after necessary religious process of consecration. 

After the idols were stolen, Nepal Police and Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) took over the responsibility of investigating and finding them. Civil Society Jumla's Coordinator, Raj Bahadur Mahat, spoke of the delay in finding the idol made of silver and gold coated Gajur or pinnacle. 

The history of the temple dates back to the 15th century when Siddha Chandannath Baba started the religious worship rituals after planting paddies here. RSS

 
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