A Repatriation to Nepal
The Eternal Divine Couple Stars in One of the Greatest Repatriation Stories of Our Time
INTRODUCTION: The Eternal Divine Couple Stars in One of the Greatest Repatriation Stories of Our Time
While researching the repatriation of holy objects from museums to their original owners, I became fascinated by the compelling story about the theft of an 800-year-old Lakshmi-Narayan sacred statue from a temple shrine in Nepal.
This holy icon was on an almost fifty-year journey away from its religious community and culture of origin after a shadowy removal of the statue in the dead of night in 1984. It ultimately ended up at the Dallas Museum. However, it was brought home through a dramatic rescue and was returned to its original sacred place and spiritual community in a much-publicized repatriation from this United States museum.
The efforts to find, identify, and get the statue back were assisted by doggedly determined heritage activists who are trying to restore sacred statues to their country. Yet these efforts to undue the work of thieves involved governments, the FBI, journalists, historians and art experts, spiritual leaders, and members of the community.
It was stolen by people who care nothing for what is sacred and was restored to its place by people who honor sacred statues in 2021.
This story struck me as an example of "spiritual ethics" in public history and it illustrates why it is helpful to understand the true spiritual nature of the artifacts that often end up in museums as art.
In recent times, it has become clear that an object that may be art in the eyes of one beholder can also be an adored divine figure to another. If that object is taken away from a community, the community may suffer, literally and spiritually.
The meaning and journey of this statue helps to illustrate legal, cultural, and ethical issues related to sacred statues. It also shows that spiritual ethics and responsibility are (or should be) a key consideration of repatriations. Part of this means learning as much as we can about what makes a statue sacred.