Nepal celebrates return of stolen 13th-century Buddha statue from New York

A 13th-century Buddha statue stolen from a Nepali temple in the 1980s was reinstated in Kathmandu on May 1, 2026, during a ceremony marked by traditional music. The statue, returned from New York in 2022, was placed back on its original stone plinth in the presence of a U.S. special envoy. The event coincided with the Buddha Jayanti festival, celebrating the birth of the founder of Buddhism.