Nineteen months after its disappearance from
Nepal, the exquisite 17th century mask of Dipankar
Buddha is being handed over to Nepal this Friday.
Austrian Ambassador to Nepal, Mrs Jutta Stefan
Bastl will be arriving from Delhi with the mask
to hand it over to Nepali authorities. The fire-gilded
mask of copper and bronze, measuring two feet
in height, is one of the fifty Dipankar images
traditionally displayed and worshipped in Patan
at the annual samyak festival. Important for being
the first in the series of 24 Buddhas, and valuable
for its rich adornments with crystals, turquoise
and precious stones, the icon was stolen from
the custody of a family in Nag Bahal, Patan, on
January 17, 2002. It belonged to a Guthi (trust).
While the repatriation will be welcomed with wide
smiles of relief from the Department of Archaeology
and the Ministry of Culture, Rechin Yonjan, Cultural
Program Co-ordinator of Eco Himal, urged to make
a distinction here.
"Archaeological authorities should not think that
they have scored a point here," she said, adding,
"The repatriation efforts lacked solid contributions
from them all along." She warned that if intensive
document ation of archaeological items in Nepal
is not instituted icons like the Dipankar mask
will continue to reach foreign shores. The discovery
of the Dipankar mask and the subsequent steps
for its repatriation were just a stroke of luck
for Nepal. Were it not for the concern of people
like Dr Schicklgruber, Min Bahadur Shakya, Manik
Bajracharya, and the swift actions taken by the
Austrian authorities, the icon could have been
lost for good. How the icon reached Vienna is
still a mystery, as the German art dealer, Peter
Hardt, who tried to sell it to the Ethnographic
Museum in Vienna refused to disclose it. What
is known is that in April, 2002, Hardt offered
Dr Schicklgruber the icon for a staggering US
$ 200,000. Dr Schicklgruber, curator for South
Asian art of the museum, was enchanted at seeing
the breathtaking mask that Hardt brought to the
museum few days later.
The curator demanded a week to persuade the museum
director for the purchase. Though it was easy
enough to convince the director, the curator had
a second thought. Luckily for Nepal, he decided
to make inquiries about whether the icon was a
genuine piece. The icon was soon identified by
Professor Alexander Rospat of University of Vienna
who had seen it being displayed at the samyak
festival in Patan in March 2000. Soon, Min Bahadur
Shakya, a Buddhist activist from Patan, was contacted.
It took only a few days to sufficiently point
out that the icon was indeed the one stolen from
Nag Bahal in Patan. However, solid evidence was
lacking. The photographs taken by Manik Bajracharya
during the last samyak festival in Patan were
of invaluable help. Bajracharya is a researcher
with the Lotus Research Center dedicated to Newar
Buddhism and situated in Patan. "Still, the problem
was that for a case of theft, law in Austria requires
a formal complaint lodged by the legal owner of
the lost item," said Yonjan. Similarly, since
the art dealer was a German, the German authorities
demanded that the stolen icon and the art dealer
be handed over to them. Legal complexities kept
piling up.
Professor Rospat wrote in the May issue of Lumbini
journal that copies of the police report on the
theft, and petition to the Department of Archaeology
filed by the Guthiyars (trustees) were sent to
the curator in Austria, along with digital photographs
of the stolen icon. The materials were forwarded
to Interpol. "The authorities at Vienna then reacted
with remarkable swiftness," he wrote further.
Over a year since these developments took place,
the icon is coming back to its legal owners in
Nepal. Professor Rospat, who will be in Nepal
to attend the program organised for handing over
the icon, has mentioned that such objects are
'burgled by locals, sold on by Nepalese middlemen
and then exported with the connivance of Nepalese
government officials via the airport'. Even with
the return of the sacred Dipankar mask, pointed
questions about the safety of historic icons in
Nepal continue to look for answers.
OTHER NEWS
- British woman's wish to help school fulfilled
by family: After seeing the pitiable condition
of the Sahara Primary School, in the bus park
area of Pokhara during her visit to the scenic
city last February, Siobhan Faiers, an Irish
citizen was filled with a desire to help the
school. Unfortunately, she could not work on
her dream as she passed away at the age of 48
recently. However, her family members have pledged
to fulfil Faier's last dream, according to sources.
Faiers, an employee at Heathrow Airport, London,
passed way on October 1. Her family members
have declared to fulfil her dream of helping
the primary school at a function organised during
Faiers' final rites, according to Nabin Gurung,
who had accompanied late Faiers during her journey
in Nepal. "Faiers' family has already collected
Rs. 74,000 towards that end," said Gurung. With
mostly students from poor families, classes
are conducted in three houses. Presently, six
teachers are working in the school, three of
them being supported by local NGOs.
- Bird laboratory facing tough times: Aves
Laboratory (AL), set up two years ago to control
and research diseases attacking birds in the
country, as well as assisting poultry farms
in the kingdom, has not been functioning at
peak efficiency, due to a lack of trained manpower
and shortage of tools and equipment. "A manpower
crunch and lack of tools have crippled the laboratory",
said Dr. Pitambar Singh Kuswaha, a doctor with
the AL. For its smooth operation, the AL requires
seven personnel including three doctors and
an equal number of technicians. However, the
government has not provided the required manpower.
The consequence is that the AL is without a
single technician, informs Kuswaha. Even Kuswaha
is serving the AL as an employee of the District
Animal Health Service Office.
- Government to upgrade Bhairahawa airport:
The government has recently decided to upgrade
the domestic airport at Bhairahawa and make
it compatible for the operation of medium sized
jet airplanes. The decision comes in response
to the Thai government's interest in promoting
Lumbini for Buddhists. "The project has already
been approved by the National Planning Commission
(NPC)," said Survendra Nath Sukla, Minister
for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation today,
adding that the project would follow the modality
set under the BOOT system.
- 5 year Tourism Plan prepared for 3 districts:
A program was organized in the capital recently
to discuss the draft document of Participatory
District Tourism Development and Management
Plan (PDTDMP) of three districts - Dolpa, Rasuwa
and Taplejung. The five-year plan would begin
from 2004 and aims at promoting tourism as a
priority project. It is supported financially
by Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme
(TRPAP) and is under the ownership of District
Development Committees.
By Hari Shrestha, Resident Representative in Kathmandu
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