Wooden images of goddess Vasundhara traced in Zurich

BY A STAFF REPORTER, Kathmandu, Nov. 23: A 17th century Polychromic wooden figure of goddess Vasundhara has been located in a private museum in Geneva, Switzerland. 

The idol was stolen from a Buddhist Monastery of Pinchhe Baha of Wotu Tole in Kathmandu.

According to Lost Arts of Nepal, a Facebook page that tracks the whereabouts of Nepal’s stolen artefacts, the stolen wooden figure is now put on sale at Koller Auctions, Zurich. 

The photograph of the figure was taken by art scholar Mary Shepherd Slusser in the 1970s during the annual Bahidyo Bwoyegu Festival. 

Mary Shepherd Slusser published this photograph in her monumental book--Nepal Mandala- A Cultural Study of the Kathmandu Valley-Volume-2. 

The exact date of theft has not been ascertained yet, but it’s estimated to be between the 1970s and 80s. 

The 44cm high wooden figure of Goddess Vasudhara is to be sold at Koller Auctions, Zurich, on November 29, 2022.