{"id":6411,"date":"2026-05-02T09:36:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T09:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/02\/nepal-celebrates-return-of-stolen-13th-century-buddha-statue-from-new-york\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T09:36:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T09:36:21","slug":"nepal-celebrates-return-of-stolen-13th-century-buddha-statue-from-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/02\/nepal-celebrates-return-of-stolen-13th-century-buddha-statue-from-new-york\/","title":{"rendered":"Nepal celebrates return of stolen 13th-century Buddha statue from New York"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>The Himalayan nation restores centuries-old statue, stolen in the 1980s, to its original temple in capital Kathmandu.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>A centuries-old Buddha statue stolen from a Nepali temple has been reinstalled in its original location, one of several artefacts returned from foreign museums and collectors in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>The statue, dating to the 13th century, was carried in a palanquin back to its pagoda-style temple in the capital, Kathmandu, to the sound of traditional music on Friday.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/4\/5\/nepal-announces-two-day-weekends-as-fuel-crisis-caused-by-iran-war-deepens\">Nepal announces two-day weekends as fuel crisis caused by Iran war deepens<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/4\/22\/nepals-home-minister-resigns-second-cabinet-exit-in-one-month\">Nepal\u2019s home minister resigns, second cabinet exit in one month<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/3\/28\/nepals-ex-pm-arrested-over-alleged-role-in-protest-crackdown\">Nepal\u2019s ex-PM Oli detained over alleged role in deadly protest crackdown<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2026\/3\/27\/now-in-power-nepals-rapper-politician-balen-shah-faces-new-challenge\">Now in power, Nepal\u2019s rapper-politician Balen Shah faces new challenge<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cI feel so happy, we all do. Our god is coming back,\u201d temple-goer Sunkesari Shakya, 67, told the AFP news agency, recalling the day the statue was stolen, wreaking \u201chavoc\u201d in the community.<\/p>\n<p>In a ceremony attended by a visiting United States envoy, the statue, which returned from New York in 2022, was placed back on its original stone plinth. The event coincided with the festival of Buddha Jayanti, marking the birth of the founder of Buddhism.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4538518\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4538518\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AFP__20260501__A9KC9GW__v2__HighRes__NepalUsReligionHeritageBuddha-1777704284.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Nepal\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4538518\">Devotees carry a sculpture of the Buddha to be reinstalled at a temple in Kathmandu [Prakash Mathema\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A replica that locals had been worshipping instead was moved to another area of the temple.<\/p>\n<p>The statue was taken from the temple in the 1980s and later emerged at Tibet House US, a cultural centre in New York, where it was gifted by an unknown monk, according to Nepal\u2019s Department of Archaeology.<\/p>\n<p>Sergio Gor, Washington\u2019s special envoy to South and Central Asia, told AFP, \u201cOne of the things we are focusing on is to be able to bring back some of these incredible artefacts that decades past got into the wrong hands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are trying to right a wrong from the past,\u201d said Gor, who was on a three-day visit to Nepal.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4538522\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4538522\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AFP__20260501__A9KA7RB__v2__HighRes__NepalUsReligionHeritageBuddha-1777704400.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Nepal\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4538522\">Devotees carry a sculpture of the Buddha to be reinstalled at a temple in Kathmandu [Prakash Mathema\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Many in the Himalayan nation of 30 million people are deeply religious, and the country\u2019s Hindu and Buddhist temples, as well as heritage sites, are an integral part of everyday life.<\/p>\n<p>But many sites are bereft of centuries-old sculptures, paintings, ornamental windows and even doors, which were often stolen after the country opened up to the outside world in the 1950s.<\/p>\n<p>Many pieces were taken with the help of corrupt officials to feed art markets in the US, Europe and elsewhere, although their export remains illegal.<\/p>\n<p>About 200 artefacts have been returned to Nepal, according to the Archaeology Department, including wood and stone carvings, paintings, scriptures and idols of gods and goddesses. At least 41 artefacts have been placed back in their original locations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is very important. Our statues are not just objects of art but part of a living heritage,\u201d conservation expert Rabindra Puri told AFP.<\/p>\n<p>Puri said there was growing momentum to return stolen artefacts. More than 400 are officially listed as missing, but experts estimate the actual number to be in the thousands.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities are specifically seeking to return more artefacts from the US, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Himalayan nation restores centuries-old statue, stolen in the 1980s, to its original temple in capital Kathmandu. A centuries-old Buddha statue stolen from a Nepali temple has been reinstalled in its original location, one of several artefacts returned from foreign museums and collectors in recent years. The statue, dating to the 13th century, was carried &#8230; <a title=\"Nepal celebrates return of stolen 13th-century Buddha statue from New York\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/02\/nepal-celebrates-return-of-stolen-13th-century-buddha-statue-from-new-york\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Nepal celebrates return of stolen 13th-century Buddha statue from New York\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}