Stolen statues on display in NYC’s museum to be returned to Nepal

Kathmandu / Mar 6: Nepal has signed an agreement with Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City to return stolen statues of Uma Maheshwor and Lord Buddha to the country.

An agreement was signed between Madhu Marasani, Nepal’s Consular General in New York, and Daniel H. Weiss, chairperson of the museum to return the two statues.

The Uma Maheshwor statute in Tangalhiti, Patan, is believed to be made in between 12th to 13th century while the Lord Buddha’s statute in 11th to 12th century. Both the statues were stolen during the 1980’s.

Art historian Late Lain Singh Bangdel, in his book ‘Stolen Images of Nepal’, had stated the Uma Maheshwor statue was submitted to the museum in 1983. The statue of Lord Buddha was provided by a donor to the museum in 2015.

The museum has already removed both the statues from display after knowing they were stolen. They are likely to arrive in Nepal by April this year.