The stolen sculpture of Uma Maheshvara of the 10th century is being brought to Nepal from Colorado, United States of America. The sculpture, which was stolen in the 1960s from Ga:hiti in Ward No. 11 of Lalitpur Metropolitan City (LMC), is returning home from Asia Collection of Denver Art Museum (DAM), in Colorado. Representative of museum handed over the Uma Maheshvara sculpture to the Embassy of Nepal in the US on September 14.
The historical artifact, originally from Patan, had been on display at the museum approximately since 1975. The statue is a 30 and three-quarter inch tall tablet depicting Shiva, a revered Hindu deity and his consort Parvati, along with their children and other attendants.
The statue will be transported to Nepal and installed at the appropriate place.
The Department of Archeology (DoA) had dispatched a letter to the museum claiming the sculpture in February this year.
Sarita Subedi, chief of the Curio Department and Archaeological Officer of the DoA said that the sculpture would arrive in Nepal within a few days.
Lain Singh Bangdel in his book ‘Stolen Images of Nepal, (Page No. 76 and 78) has mentioned that the sculpture was stolen from its original place.
Earlier, a stolen bronze idol of Laxmi Narayan dated anywhere between the 12th and 15th centuries was brought home from a Dallas-based museum in the US.
In addition, three artefacts of Salabhanjika Strut, Shakyamuni Buddha and Ganesha sculpture — dating from the 13th to 16th century — were also brought back from the USA.
Source : TRN,
