Three artifacts dating back to 13th to 17th centuries that were stolen have been brought back to Nepal from the United States of America. These stolen artifacts—a wooden toran (festoon), a woodwork featuring an image of a flying gandarva and an idol of Gautam Buddha in a meditation posture dating back to the Malla dynasty—were handed to the Department of Archeology in a function on Wednesday.
The relics that were stolen from different places in Nepal and at different dates and kept at a museum and two galleries in the US were brought to Nepal at diplomatic initiatives between the two countries. Of them, the toran dating back 17th century was stolen after 1985 from the entrance to Yampi mahabihar in Lalitpur.
Similarly, the flying gandarva was stolen in 1997 from a puja house of family deities of Shakya at Itumbahal of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-24. The Buddha idol dating back to 13th century is priced USD 30,000. Similarly, the toran is priced USD 110,000 and flying gandarva USD 22,000.
Addressing the event, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale thanked the representatives of the US-based museum for handing over the stolen relics back to Nepal.
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