August 16, 2000

KATHMANDU: A 1,000-year-old stone relief stolen from Nepal 18 years ago is returning from a Berlin museum to its original setting near Kathmandu.

The Museum for Indian Art said Wednesday it bought the carving, featuring the Hindu god Shiva and his wife Uma, on the art market in 1985, but recently discovered the piece was stolen.

“Stolen works of art should be returned to their original owners”, said Antje Vollmer, a politician from Germany’s Greens party and vice president of parliament who pushed for the return.

Art experts and journalists discovered the illegal orgins of the piece, which is believed to have come from Wotol, a village 25 Kilometers (15 miles) east of Kathmandu.

Many religious objects and sculptures were stolen from Nepalese temples in the 1970s and 80s and then brought to Europe for sale on the black market, Vollmer said.

Museum director Marianne Yaldiz said she will travel to Kathmandu to return the relief to Nepalese authorities at the end of August.