KATMANDU, NEPAL, January 4, 2017 (Kathmandu Post): Fourteen statues and two conch shells which were stolen from the Chandannath Temple in Jumla district headquarters Khalanga on November 26 were found at Depalgaun-2 in the district on Tuesday. Local women had spotted the statues at Rokayawada while they were going to the forest to collect firewood. One of them immediately telephoned her relative in Khalanga who informed the police about the statues.
A statue of the main Deity Dattatreya was among the 21 centuries-old images and other valuables that were stolen from the temple. The Chandannath-Bhairavnath Guthi Management Committee said the statues of Dattatreya, Buddha, Krishna, Mahakaal and a gold-plated steeple, footprints of the Deities and a rare conch were among the valuables stolen.
The security personnel and Chandannath-Bhairavnath Guthi Management Committee members gathered the statues that were scattered about in the stream and the foot trail. They were brought to Khalanga in a procession attended by hundreds of people. According to Gaurinanda Acharya, former chief of the Guthi Management Committee, the statues were reinstalled in the temple. Police mobilised a search team suspecting that other statues and valuables could be hidden in the area.