Stolen Bhairav mask located in Hong Kong

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, July 11: A Bhairav mask has been located in a private collection in Hong Kong.  The Samvat 957 (1837) dated mask was stolen in the 1990s from a Dyochhen in Wolachhen Tole of Panauti village, Kavrepalanchowk, according to Lost Arts of Nepal, a Facebook page that tracks the whereabouts of Nepal’s stolen artefacts.  

The photograph was taken by Badri Banepali in the 1980s during a festival and the gallery photograph was published in the Arts of Asia magazine in March/April 1995. 

The mask was identified by Prasant Shrestha, a heritage photographer and activist from Panauti village. 

The mask belongs to the Unmantta Bhairav of Undreshwora Mahadeva temple complex. The copper mask used to be displayed only during the festival and for the rest of the year it used to be stored in the Dyochhen in Wolachhen Tole. The mask was stolen when it was stored. 

After the original mask went missing, a replica has been in use.