Ancient 13th-century Buddha statue returns to Kathmandu temple decades after New York theft

After decades in New York, a stolen 13th-century Buddha returns to Nepal. US envoy Sergio Gor attends the ceremony during the Buddha Jayanti festival.

By: AXL Media

Published: May 1, 2026, 3:10 PM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from The Straits Times

A Divine Homecoming Amidst Traditional Celebration

The streets of Kathmandu echoed with the sounds of traditional Newari music on May 1 as a centuries-old Buddha statue was carried in a palanquin back to its ancestral home. The 13th-century artifact, which had been absent from its pagoda-style temple for over four decades, was greeted by scores of emotional devotees who gathered to witness the reinstallation. Sunkesari Shakya, a 67-year-old temple-goer, described the original theft in the 1980s as an event that wreaked havoc on the local community’s spiritual well-being. The return of the idol represents not just a legal victory for the Nepalese government, but a profound restoration of the community’s living religious heritage.

The Long Journey from Kathmandu to Manhattan

The statue’s odyssey began when it was illegally removed from its stone plinth during a wave of heritage theft that swept Nepal following its opening to the West in the 1950s. After disappearing from local records, the Buddha eventually surfaced at Tibet House US, a prominent cultural center in New York City. According to records from Nepal’s Department of Archaeology, the piece had been gifted to the institution by an unknown monk who was likely unaware of its illicit origins. Following its identification and official repatriation in 2022, the artifact underwent a period of conservation before its final return to the temple’s sanctum.

Diplomatic Engagement in Heritage Restitution

The reinstallation ceremony was attended by Sergio Gor, the United States Special Envoy to South and Central Asia, during his high-profile three-day diplomatic visit to Nepal. Mr. Gor emphasized that the United States is actively focusing on facilitating the return of incredible artifacts that fell into the wrong hands in previous decades. By participating in the Buddha Jayanti event, Mr. Gor signaled a shift in diplomatic priorities, framing the return of cultural property as an essential step in righting historical wrongs and strengthening bilateral ties between Washington and the administration of Prime Minister Balen Shah.