KATHMANDU, Sept 18: A total of 63 lost idols of various gods and goddesses have been returned to Nepal.
Speaking at a program organized by the Nepal Heritage Renaissance Campaign on Friday, Director General of the Department of Archeology Damodar Gautam said that 21 idols that were sold away illegally are on their way back to Nepal.
Numerous stolen artifacts await return to Nepal as repatriation...
Gautam also said that it was necessary for the government to make a strong rule to bring back the idols that were stolen from Nepal. Mayor of the Lalitpur Metropolitan City, Chiribabu Maharjan expressed his gratitude to those who worked hard to bring back the statue of Kamalaj Vishnu (Laxminarayan) to the Patan Durbar Museum on April 29. The statute was stolen from ward number 16 Patko in 1985 A.D.
Mayor Maharjan said that the Lalitpur Metropolitan City will bear the cost for the installation of CCTV and street lights for the safety of these historical idols. He also assured that the metropolis would make necessary arrangements for the return of the missing statue of Uma Maheshwar from Patan.
Veteran cultural expert and centenary person Satya Mohan Joshi suggested bringing stolne statutes only after ascertaining that they were real or not. “The statues are the symbol of human civilization. Thus, campaigners have to abide by the Geneva Accords,” he said.
According to Campaigner Roshan Mishra, they had written to several museums requesting them to return the stolen idols. Director General Gautam and Mayor Maharjan jointly launched the campaign in Lalitpur on Friday.
