Submit your Article

Manama: The Kingdom of Bahrain invited a select group of journalists to participate in an event that was going to be held to honor Nepali ophthalmologist Dr Sanduk Ruit with the Isa Award for Service to Humanity. I happened to be one of the lucky seven who went to Bahrain. 

An international trip, even though for work, is fun as you get to visit new places, see new things, meet new people, taste new food and experience new cultures. It was exciting for me not only because it was my first international trip but also because it was my first-ever flight experience. Bahrain is an island country in West Asia comprising a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and 33 artificial islands. It spans some 760 square kilometers, and is the third-smallest nation in Asia. In light traffic, you can easily move from one corner of Bahrain to another within 20 minutes.  Upon landing in Bahrain on February 19, I started comparing the city bathed in night-light with Nepal. I could see just how different it was from the moment I stepped off the plane. There’s a lot we can and need to learn from Bahrain.  Though located in one of the world’s main oil-producing regions, Bahrain has a handful of small oil wells. Among the gulf nations, Bahrain was the first to find petroleum reserves. We visited the historic well, now converted to an ‘Oil Museum’.  I thought, being an Islamic state, Bahrain might have a strict society, but I found it to be completely different. A strikingly modern city, Manama, Bahrain’s capital, is relaxed and cosmopolitan and is a favorite destination for visitors from the neighboring Saudi Arabia. On weekends, crowds of Saudis come into the city to enjoy its restaurants and bars and the nightlife, which is rare in their country. However, traffic jams are an issue in Bahrain. On the weekend, congestion gets heavier than in Kathmandu. It could be because the small island country has no metros and fewer public buses and everyone eligible to drive has their own car. Many of them even have two—separate ones for office and personal use.  The other places I visited were The King Fahd Causeway, Tree of Life, Bahraini Women’s Monument ‘Athar’ and the National Charter Monument. The Tree of Life is a 9.75 meters high Prosopis cineraria tree that has been standing on a hill in a barren area of the Arabian Desert for 400 years!  What amazed me the most was the charter monument. It was commissioned by King Hamad al-Khalifa as a ‘gift to the people’ of Bahrain and to honor the National Charter (Bahrain’s Constitution). This building explores concepts and representations of national history and identity in a series of vivid, dramatic visitor experiences. Over 220,000 names are engraved on the walls of this monument—of those who voted during the promulgation of Bahrain’s first Constitution.  There are many takeaways from my Bahrain trip. Apart from being a fun experience, it also opened my eyes to how impactful government policies and infrastructural development plans can be to create a wonderfully equipped and thus habitable state. 

In Aug 2022, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) in New York, US, returned two archeological artifacts to Nepal: a 10th-century stone statue and a 13th-century wooden strut. These artifacts had arrived at the Met in the 90s.

The statue of Mahagauri of the 13th century was stolen in 1970 from Deopatan.

This is just one incident of lost and stolen historical, cultural and archeological heirlooms cropping up in personal and museum collections in different parts of the world. Rabindra Puri, Nepali conservationist, and his team are doing their best to return such pieces of Nepali art, history and culture. 

The statue of Dancing Ganesh of the 15th century was stolen in mid 1985 from Sanga.

Puri has started the project called ‘The Museum of Stolen Art’, which aims to preserve traditional arts, artifacts and monuments of Nepal by raising awareness about lost and stolen artifacts.

The statue of Female Divinity of the 18th century was stolen in early 1980 from Patan.

“As an initial step, we planned to display the replicas of 50 lost and stone sculptures. To date, we have already made 40 replicas,” he says.

The statue of Mahankal of the 17th century was stolen in 2009 from Inchotol, Bhaktapur.

These replicas are displayed at The Heritage Gallery in Toni Hagen House, Bhaktapur. These deities are not for sale, and will be taken to the Museum of Stolen Art in Panauti, Kavre, once the building is completed. 

The statue of Garudasana Vishnu of the 10th century was stolen in late 1970 from Hyumat Tol, Kathmandu.

All of these facsimiles were crafted under the leadership of a renowned stone artist Timir Nashan Ojha and his team of 11 Nepali and Indian sculptors.

The statue of Vishnu with Laxmi and Garuda of the 10th century was stolen in 1983 from Bhaktapur.

“The former US Ambassador to Nepal Randy Berry was very supportive in helping us bring back the statues,” Puri says. “I hope the newly appointed ambassador will continue to show us the similar level of support.”

The statue of Uma-Mahesvara of the 8th century was stolen in 1983 from Pashupatinath Temple.

The statue of Buddha Flanked by Bodhisattvas of the 9th century was stolen in late 1970 from Alkohiti, Patan.

Kabin Raj Puri is in an ecstatic trance. Two thick metal hooks have just been pierced clean through the flesh on his back and he is being raised above ground with a pulley system. It was not a beautiful sight to behold, but the man performing this act was in pure bliss. At the venue of Nepal Inked Tattoo Festival in Thamel, one expects to see and meet people who are unconventional, bizarre even. You see a guy who has covered his entire body in tattoos, there is another one with so many piercings and in so many places you thought impossible and next to him is the person who has tattooed the whites of his eyes.  But on this particular day, Puri’s suspension act seemed to be the event’s main highlight.   With the expert guidance of suspension artist Alex Pareiro and his team, Puri, a tattoo artist by profession, was swinging in the air with two metal hooks yanking at his flesh in his back. In the background, there was a steady hum of tattoo guns, metal music and mixed whispers of crowds gathered to witness the stunt, but all eyes were fixed on Puri. At one point, he starts swinging and spinning wildly shouting “This is so much fun! I fell no pain at all.” He seemed more than happy to pose for photographs. When he was finally lowered after 20 minutes or so, I talked to Puri about his act. The metal hooks from his back were removed and he was bleeding. Naturally, I asked him if it was painful. “No, it was a pleasurable experience,” he told me. “Up there, you get high.” Our conversation was brief. I was astonished, for it was my first time seeing a person performing a body suspension act before my eyes. The fact that it was Puri’s first body suspension act only left me further tongue-tied. 

Rainfall played a spoilsport for this year’s Dashain. While the festival may be over, it seems as though monsoon is still on, and at the receiving end are the farmers. Every year, farmers harvest paddy before Dashain, but they could not this year. “The gods are angry with us,” an old farmer told me as he was drying his paddy harvest in Bhaktapur on a recent afternoon. The sun was out that day but with the current weather, the sky could grow overcast and the clouds could burst any time. So the old farmer was understandably weary. The rice paddies in Bhaktapur would have been empty by this time in the previous years. I was told not even 10 percent of the harvesting has been completed this year. “Crops have been badly affected by the rain and also by the recent hailstorm,” a woman told me. For farmers of Bhaktapur, harvesting season is a cause for celebration. This is how they have been ringing in the festival season every year. They drink plenty of chhyang (rice beer), beaten rice, and vegetables and gather harvest bounty, the fruits of their labor. The harvest season came late this year. Still, the farmers were making the most of it. I was offered some chhyang and beaten rice on the condition that I take their issue to the government. “Tell the government that we lack fertilizers every year,” a genial farmer told me. I promised to do what I can.