Though priceless, Artefacts smuggled for their value recovered by
Twenty stolen Nepalese antiquities, valued at over $3 million (approximately NPR 410 million), have been returned to Nepal after the investigations, by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit, were carried out. The recovered objects include rare religious sculptures and paintings that had been missing for decades.
Historical and Religious Cultural Restitution of Loot
Image Courtesy- Hyperallergic
Among the recovered pieces is a 15th-century Paubha painting of Gaganshim Bharo, a military governor, with his wives. This traditional Nepali artwork was stolen from the Itumbaha Monastery in Kathmandu in 1980 before appearing in a New York collection.
Another notable artefact is a 9th-century Buddha statue which was taken from the Bungamati Stupa in the late 1970s. It surfaced in London before ending up as a donation at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, where it remained unnoticed for years.
A stone statue believed to depict the goddess Parvati or Lakshmi was also recovered. Last photographed at the Vishnu Devi Temple in Kathmandu in 1975, it was later smuggled to Switzerland and eventually appeared in a New York dealer’s collection. Authorities seized the statue in 2025.
Image Courtesy- Borneo Bulletin
Image Courtesy- Hyperallergic
Subhash Kapoor, Global Networks Fuel Illicit Art Trade
These Nepalese antiquities were linked to Subhash Kapoor, a New York-based art dealer who trafficked over 2,600 looted objects through his gallery, Art of the Past. Kapoor and five others were sentenced to 10 years in prison in India in 2022 for their involvement in the theft and illegal export of religious idols from Tamil Nadu temples. His extradition to the United States in relation to the smuggling remains pending.
Image Courtesy- Hyperallergic
Efforts for Repatriation by Nepal
The repatriation was supported by groups such as the Nepal Heritage Recovery Campaign and the Keshchandra Mahavihar Conservation Society. Despite these efforts, many stolen Nepalese artefacts remain in museums, private collections, and auction houses, with advocacy groups like Lost Arts of Nepal pushing for their return with all might.
Feature Image Courtesy- Borneo Bulletin
Contributor
