Conundrum of stolen gods in Nepal

At least four idols of important deities, worshipped mostly by Kathmandu Valley's native Newa community, have been stolen in the past two months.

Around two months ago a life-size statue of Aakash Bhairab was stolen from its temple from Lalitpur, a highly decorated statue of goddess Vagwati and gilded Kalash was stolen from Tripura Sundari Temple, an idol of highly revered goddess Balkumari was stolen from Sunakothi and statue of lord Vishnu was stolen from Bangalamukhi in Laltipur. Two more statues are reported stolen from the historic town of Dolakha Bhimsen in Dolakha district, around 130 kilometers east from the capital as per Kayastha.

Stakeholders of Bangalamukhi have even issued a notice of awarding  of Rs 500,000 for any  body providing secret information about the stolen statue of the revered deity. But, they are still clueless about who or why or how the statue was stolen  from a temple where hundreds of worshipers gather everyday.

Majority, of statues that are once stolen do not return to their right place. Sometimes, police are successful at arresting the idol thieves, but they could not reach to sources who initiated the idol theft or buyers of such valuable idols. “Police are clueless about who initiated statue theft and where they will sell it and through which means the whole operation was organised. Even when police are able to arrest thieves who happen to be a mere low level accomplice in the crime, they never reach the kingpin" Yadab Lal Kayastha, a local activist, said.

According to Nepal Police, 15 idols of the gods and goddesses have been stolen from the country till mid-January of the current fiscal year 2021 - 22. Of them, 26 people have been arrested from various districts in the country with some stolen idols.  But, even after arresting thieves, police seldom reach a conclusion about who demanded the statues and where was it targeted to.

Similarly, police record shows that it has recorded theft of a total 578 idols, statues and archaeologically important artifacts in modern history of Nepal Police. However, most of the records are dated in the last 15 years. However, historians and locals in the valley said that above 90 per cent of all lost statues were stolen during the 1970s and 1980s.

Police have a record of 12 missing statues from Patan in Lalitpur during the 1970s. It shows that only a couple of statues and artifacts were stolen during the era from Kathmandu and Bhaktapur. Police don’t have any record of theft in the 1980s in the Kathmandu valley, while most of the statues were lost during the decade of 80s.

Regarding the statues that were stolen from Lalitpur in the 70s, police had mentioned that the Patan Durbar Museum authorities had asked the Nepal Police about Nepali statues being auctioned at Bonhams in France. The museum had asked the police to retrieve it from France. In return Nepal Police said that they had written letters to the government body about it. There has been no follow up in the case by the police since then.

Right activists say the police record is only the tip of the iceberg as the police record shows most of the statues were stolen in the past few years only.

Police stations become dumping sites of lost and found statues

If you happen to reach any police circles inside Kathmandu valley, try to look into nooks and corners of it as there are high chances that one might easily see stranded archaeologically important artifacts or statues of our deities.

Comparatively older police beats and police circles are filled with once stolen statues or artifacts. Activists Kayastha said that despite facing intimidation from the police they have identified at least five police circles in the Kathmandu district only.

A statue of headless Amitabh Buddha  found inside Gausala Police Circle, Kathmandu.

Even police are not sure how and when such valuable statues and artifacts ended up in the police stations. Deputy Superintendent of Police Dil Bahadur Malla of Jana Sewa Police Circle at New Road said that many such artifacts are retrieved by police after smugglers fail to deliver the statue after stealing it and throwing it anywhere in public places. “We retrieve such once stolen and left statues in the hope that people would come to claim it, but sadly nobody comes to claim it and it ends up in a police station like ours forever.”

Malla also pointed out that numbers of statues and artifacts have grown exponentially in the police beats after the 2015 earthquake. “After earthquake many good citizens carried important artifacts and left inside police beats to prevent them from being stolen. But, after the temples were restored they did not know which part came from which side and were left inside the police station since then.

There are a total of 15 statues, some wood craven artifacts and broken parts of pinnacles inside the Jana Sewa Police Circle. Similarly, a very rare kind of statue of god Brahma can be found inside Gausala Police Circle. Hindu religion does not allow crafting statues of Brahma (creator of universe) but, due to some tantric procedures a statue was made for the Pashupati nath and was established at Mitra Park some few hundred years ago. But, this statue is found inside the police circle left all attained amidst other waste products.

A segment of broken Buddhist Chaitya inside Anamnagar Police Circle, Kathmandu.

A Buddhist Chaitya can be found inside Anamnagar Police Circle along with other statues. And similarly, statues of Vishnu, Bhagwati and other goddesses can be found inside the old police building of Hanuman Dhoka.

One man’s fight to bring back statue of revered god

Yadav Lal Kayastha, 42, who is running from post to polls in the last few years, and mostly taken as ‘nuisance’ by the lethargic government authorities including the security officers, has been pressing officials to fulfill their duties promptly and be more vigilant about searching and restoring hundreds of years old statues and other archaeologically important artifact that were once stolen or looted.

Kayastha, who denies being tired in a fight to save their heritage, sounds exasperated when it comes about indifference from the government authorities who are in fact responsible for its preservation.

“Imagine about the rule of law in the country and the message it carries, when a statue of gods,  that are worshiped by hundreds a daily basis which lye amidst human settlement, are stolen by the thugs brandishing naked Talwars and Khukuris and threatening people of their lives who try to stop it,” said Kayastha.

Kayastha these days is occupied by a pious mission to bring back a life size idol of Ikha Narayan statue which was stolen from its temple between New Road and Ason. “Our fathers and father’s father have worshiped God for centuries. But, when it got lost we did not receive any help from the authorities back then. But, times have changed now as we have focused all our effort to bring back these statues at any cost.”

Activist Yadab Lal Kayastha along with stolen statue of lord Ikha Narayan, about which he has has vowed to bring it back into its rightful place.

The statue was lost on 20 August, 1985. A group of thugs had stolen the statue at night brandishing their weapon and threatening locals with their lives. It had also created a buzz in Nepali media in those days. But, no efforts were made by authorities back then. In fact there is no record of the statue being stolen in that year with the police.

Kayastha said that with their investigation they have found out that the statue is now placed somewhere in Morang and Sunsari district. “We have asked the Department of Archeology for their support of which they have shown a positive response. We are confident that with support from all we will soon bring the statues to its rightful place.”