Theft of idols affects traditional Jatra

Kathmandu, Nov. 15: This week, locals in Chapagaun of Lalitpur celebrated Marthi Jatra, almost four decades after the main idol was stolen from the temple. 

The Jatra was not celebrated in Chapagaun for 38 years. For the past three years, the locals have been struggling to revive the Jatra after they resumed it in 2022 following the creation of the stone idol. This year, the Marthi Jatra started on Saturday and concluded on Monday. 

Locals do not know the exact date of the theft of the main idol of the Marthi Jatra. However, the missing statue was found in Switzerland a few years ago.

Every year, on November 14, the International Day against Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property is observed to raise global awareness about the severe impact of illegal trade of cultural heritage. 

Neither the government nor the concerned bodies in Nepal organised any official programme to recognise the day and generate awareness programmes to mark the day. 

For a country like Nepal, rich in ancient artefacts, religious statues and historic relics, the day holds significance. 

According to the Department of Archaeology (DoA), there were no records of stolen, theft and looted historical artefacts from various parts of the nation in the past and also no official inventory about them.  Owing to a lack of inventory of the existing and previous artefacts, it is challenging to return the stolen objects. 

The DoA has no records of the exact number of stolen artefacts which were trafficked to the foreign land. Over 100 historical artefacts have been identified in various places around the world. 

Sarita Subedi, an archaeological officer at the DoA, said that 173 stolen artefacts were returned from various nations and some were resituated in their original place.  

A total of 439 cases of stolen artefacts have been registered at the DoA office so far.  

According to people involved in the campaign to bring back religious, cultural and artistic heritage, including idols of Nepalese deities, from museums abroad, most of thefts took place in the 1960s to the 1990s, but even now it has not completely ended.

It seems that innumerable art objects were stolen from the country from the 1950s to the 1960s. 

Late art historian Lain Singh Bangdel's book 'Stolen Images of Nepal' contains details of dozens of idols stolen from Nepal. In many cases of theft mentioned in the book, robbers have even vandalised the idols of gods while looting them.

Alok Siddhi Tuladhar, a heritage campaigner, said that the concerned stakeholders have been showing more interest in protecting their local heritages, installing safety mechanisms to protect them from being stolen and exerting pressure on authorities to return the stolen heritage. 

“Several historical sculptures stolen from various parts of the nation are used only for decorative purposes in foreign lands, but they are not mere statues for us, they are connected with our faith. It seems the foreign citizens also started putting pressure to return Nepal's stolen statues,” he said. 

The National Conference on Heritage Recovery held in May 2024 in Kathmandu organised by the Nepal Heritage Recovery Campaign (NHRC) demanded museums, curators and private collectors around the world to review their inventories, identify looted cultural objects from Nepal and urgently work to return them. 

The Conference asked the government to empower the Department of Archaeology by significantly increasing its budget and human resources to carry out its assigned tasks of documentation, investigation, follow-up and transport of cultural items back to Nepal. 

The Conference recommends that the government establish a ‘heritage police’ unit with special responsibilities to protect cultural property. It also recommends the enactment of new laws and regulations to better reflect new challenges, given that the heritage law of Nepal dates back to 1956.