Some historic idols stolen from Nepal have returned home. Challenges galore have stopped others

A few days ago, Sweta Gyanu Baniya, an assistant professor at Virginia Tech University, posted a picture of an intricate gilt-copper necklace stolen from Kathmandu’s Taleju temple in the 1970s. The picture caused a lot of uproar as a lot of Nepalis demanded the neckless be brought back to Nepal.

Around two months ago, the Art Institute of Chicago returned an idol of Laxmi-Narayan which had been stolen from Patan in the early 1980s. An idol of Uma-Maheswar, stolen from Tangalhiti in Patan, also miraculously made its way back to Nepal a few months ago.