Detective Superintendent John Roch from the Metropolitan Police of London handed over two cultural artifacts of Nepal to Gyan Chandra Acharya, Ambassador of Nepal to the United Kingdom, amid a programme organised at the Embassy on Friday.
The artifacts scheduled to return to Nepal include a carved wooden Torana from the 16th Century and a carved stone sculpture of knedling devotees in the Namaskar Mudra from the 18th Century.
The Torana was lost from the Kumari Baha, the east side of the Hanumandhoka Durbar Square in Kathmandu, in between 1980-1990. The sculpture of the kneeling devotees is originally from the Manjushri Temple near Om Bahal, Kathmandu, which was lost in the 1980s.
Receiving the artifacts, Gyan Chandra Acharaya thanked the Metropolitan Police and all the officials of the Art and Antiques Unit involved in recovering the lost art objects of Nepal.
He remarked that the proactive and thoughtful collaboration from the Metropolitan Police has positively contributed to Nepal’s national efforts to recover and reinstate the lost cultural goods.
Speaking on the occasion, Detective Superintendent Roch remarked that the Metropolitan Police’s Art and Antiques Unit was proud of its role in the recovery of these two precious pieces and delighted that they can be returned to Nepal.
Thankfully, they were photographed in situ prior to being stolen and these archives are important resources which will no doubt assist with the recovery of other stolen artefacts in the future. When the police informed the dealer that the pieces had been stolen from their religious sites and illegally removed from Nepal, he volunteered to disclaim then so that they could be returned.
He also thanked everyone who had contributed to this investigation and made the repatriation process possible.
Dr. Emiline Smith, a Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Glasgow, remarked that she had been proud to be a part of the process of repatriation of those cultural objects to their rightful owners in Nepal.
The Embassy and the office of the Metropolitan Police expressed their willingness to work closely and promote the collaboration efforts from the preservation of the cultural heritage. Both sides also reiterated their commitment to further strengthen the long-standing people-to-people relations between Nepal and the United Kingdom.
The two artefacts will be delivered to their original sites through the Department of Archeology of Nepal in due course of time.
Source : TRN,
