<figure><img width="1500" height="1272" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121140/636b924b9c7e80680e06f13djpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>The 400-year-old necklace once worn by the Taleju Bhawani goddess in Kathmandu that is now in a museum in the United States. Photo: ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO</figcaption></figure>Two months after the <a href="https://www.artic.edu/">Art Institute of Chicago</a> returned a stolen 800-year-old stone sculpture, many more of Nepal’s religious antiquities have been located at the museum, raising questions also about the identity of the international criminal networks and their accomplices in Kathmandu responsible for the thefts.An America-based Nepali posted photographs on Friday of a whole section of the Art Institute of Chicago that is dedicated to religious objects from Nepal and other South Asian countries. Sweta Gyanu Baniya, an assistant professor at Virginia Tech University, recently visited the Art Institute of Chicago and was appalled by what she saw. Among them was an intricate <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/130700/necklace-inscribed-with-the-name-of-king-pratapamalladeva">gilt-copper necklace stolen from Kathmandu’s Taleju Temple</a> 45 years ago, and her <a href="https://twitter.com/Sunkesharee/status/1403467078443622401">Twitter post</a> about it was widely shared. “I had heard about the Nepal section at the Art Institute, and sure enough there was the necklace and other deities from Nepal on display,” Baniya says. “I felt like bowing down to pray.”Besides the necklace, there were also other Hindu and Buddhist gods and goddesses on display, alongside antiquities from India and Pakistan. But it was the necklace that emotionally moved Baniya the most, since the Taleju Temple is open to the public only once a year back in Kathmandu.“And here it was on show all year round. I knelt before the display and was overcome with tears. I knew the necklace was not where it was supposed to be, it belonged back in the Taleju Temple in Kathmandu,” she said. “I was emotionally moved, and could not move away from it.” <figure><img width="640" height="853" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121140/636b924e9c7e80680e06f13ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>As more and more Nepali antiquities are traced to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-homecoming-of-nepals-gods/">Western museums and private collectors</a>, pressure is building for their return, as well as to find the identity of international smuggling networks with their Nepali accomplices responsible for the thefts three to four decades ago.In April, Nepal welcomed back a stolen <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-homecoming-of-nepals-gods/">12th-century stone sculpture of Laxmi-Narayan from the Dallas Art Museum</a>, where it had been exhibited after being stolen in 1984 and last sighted at a Sotheby’s auction 30 years ago (below). <img width="1500" height="1002" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121140/636b92519c7e80680e06f13fjpeg.jpg" alt="">The necklace itself is studded with semi-precious stones and inlaid with smaller depictions of the eight astamatrika goddesses. And inscription at the front proves that it once belonged to King Pratap Malla who ruled Kathmandu from 1641-74 -- one hundred years before the Valley was conquered by Prithvi Narayan Shah.In 1970, the necklace was among the treasures that were ordered by the Panchayat government at the time to be moved to the nearby Hanuman Dhoka Museum which was deemed to be safer since it was guarded by the Royal Nepal Army. It disappeared in 1976.“The government wanted to move the treasures for safe-keeping, but it got stolen anyway. The high priests at the time had warned officials that this would anger the powerful Taleju god. Sure enough, within a year, King Mahendra died,” says Uddhab Karmacharya, the eighth generation high priest of the Taleju Temple from the family <figure><img width="640" height="960" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121140/636b92549c7e80680e06f140jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“How was it possible that such a sacred item could be stolen from such a highly secure place?” asks Karmacharya, whose father was the head priest when the treasures were ordered to be transferred. Art historians say that the Taleju necklace and other religious objects in Nepal could not have been smuggled out without collusion between international art dealers, criminal networks and their accomplices on the ground in Kathmandu. “The inscription at the front of the necklace leaves no doubt not only about when and where it was made, but also where it was intended to stay,” explains American art crime professor, Erin Thompson.  The Art Institute of Chicago exhibit includes details of the necklace, and says that it was among items gifted by the US-based Alsdorf Foundation. Interestingly, this the same foundation that used to also own the stone sculpture of the 13th century Chaturmukhi Shivalinga (below) that the museum handed over to the Nepal Embassy in Washington in April for restitution to Nepal. <figure><img width="397" height="463" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121140/636b92569c7e80680e06f141jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/130700/necklace-inscribed-with-the-name-of-king-pratapamalladeva">The provenance of the necklace</a> also mentions that it was sold by Bruce Miller Antiquities of Sausalito in California on 22 June, 1976 to the Alsdorf Foundation — the very year that the necklace was believed to have been stolen in Kathmandu.  The information is contained in an invoice in a curatorial file given to the Art Institute Chicago in 2010 that notes: ‘Receipt of Object #26939 … on loan to the museum since July 8, 1976’.  “The Art speaks for itself … it is a masterpiece, one of a kind, it was a royal commission for the clan deity, Taleju Bhawani,” said the administrator of the site Lost Arts of Nepal which had also traced and posted information of the object in the Chicago Museum in March. The post contains the transliteration of the inscription. “कन्थि।। श्री श्री श्री भगवती देवी जननी जयति:। स्वस्ति महाराजाधिराज श्री श्री राज राजेन्द्र कवीन्द्र जय प्रताप मल्ल देव स कथि जुरो शुभ।।"“Victory to the Mother-Goddess [Bhagavati devi Janani]. Hail! [This] is the necklace of the king of kings, lord of kings, lord of the poets, the victorious Pratapamalladeva (may it be) auspicious.”The Alsdorfs, through their foundation or individually gave as many as 14 Asian antiquities in their collection to the Art Institute. Noted Chicago collector and philanthropist couple James and Marilyn Alsdorf were especially interested in sacred art, and there are even photographs of some of these stolen objects adorning their swimming pool (below). <a href="https://twitter.com/artcrimeprof/status/1386639539725344768">Art crime professor Erin Thompson writes on Twitter</a>: ‘Totally culturally disrespectful and all. Some of their collections have problematic provenances, to say the least. ”The Aldorfs also had many other stolen religious objects from India and tibet in their collection. <a href="https://twitter.com/poetryinstone">Vijay Kumar</a>, the co-founder of the India Pride Project and author of The Idol Thief told Nepali Times: “The Alsdorfs have been a part of many high profile repatriations in the past, it is high time that the US government also start investigating the provenances of the Alsdorf collection.”Some of the objects from the Alsdorfs collection have been put up in auctions at <a href="https://www.christies.com/features/The-Collection-of-James-and-Marilynn-Alsdorf-10107-3.aspx?fbclid=IwAR1xe3CUvqICJmwa_US8CaQDlmU-Jega_aQZegCb4WYDbm0Bfa5zMWDo5gg">Christie’s</a> in the past. The Taleju necklace appears to have been a gift from Marylinn B Alsdorf to the Art Institute of Chicago, according to Lost Arts of Nepal which has all been trying to trace the provenance of the two stone sculptures from the Alsdorf collection that the Art Institute Chicago sent back to Nepal in April. <figure><img width="1080" height="695" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121140/636b92579c7e80680e06f142jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Says Sangeeta Thapa of Siddhartha Art Gallery in Kathmandu: “Why haven’t we looked out for antiquities that went south before being re-exported in the late 70s, 80s. The Nepal government needs to be more proactive on this, it is time to look at our own backyard and the region.”  <img width="640" height="322" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121140/636b925a9c7e80680e06f143jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="640" height="360" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121140/636b925e9c7e80680e06f144jpeg.jpg" alt="">While the Taleju necklace has been located and the Nepal government says it will start working on its repatriation, Lost Arts of Nepal has also started investigating the provenance of two other Nepali deities at the Art Institute of Chicago that were also gifted by Marylinn B Alsdorf (above). One is a <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/148392/buddha-sheltered-by-the-serpent-king-muchalinda">Muchalinda </a>Buddha statue from Guita Tole in Patan, where the first photo of the figure in the shrine was taken by the Department of Archaeology. The second is of a <a style="font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/148371/dancing-bhairava-a-horrific-form-of-god-shiva">dancing Bhairava</a> which was documented in a book by art historian Jurgen Schick.

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How Nepali antiquities got to Chicago museum

<figure><img width="1500" height="1272" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131148/636cf31b9c7e80680e09d94cjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>The 400-year-old necklace once worn by the Taleju Bhawani goddess in Kathmandu that is now in a museum in the United States. Photo: ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO</figcaption></figure>Two months after the <a href="https://www.artic.edu/">Art Institute of Chicago</a> returned a stolen 800-year-old stone sculpture, many more of Nepal’s religious antiquities have been located at the museum, raising questions also about the identity of the international criminal networks and their accomplices in Kathmandu responsible for the thefts.An America-based Nepali posted photographs on Friday of a whole section of the Art Institute of Chicago that is dedicated to religious objects from Nepal and other South Asian countries. Sweta Gyanu Baniya, an assistant professor at Virginia Tech University, recently visited the Art Institute of Chicago and was appalled by what she saw. Among them was an intricate <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/130700/necklace-inscribed-with-the-name-of-king-pratapamalladeva">gilt-copper necklace stolen from Kathmandu’s Taleju Temple</a> 45 years ago, and her <a href="https://twitter.com/Sunkesharee/status/1403467078443622401">Twitter post</a> about it was widely shared. “I had heard about the Nepal section at the Art Institute, and sure enough there was the necklace and other deities from Nepal on display,” Baniya says. “I felt like bowing down to pray.”Besides the necklace, there were also other Hindu and Buddhist gods and goddesses on display, alongside antiquities from India and Pakistan. But it was the necklace that emotionally moved Baniya the most, since the Taleju Temple is open to the public only once a year back in Kathmandu.“And here it was on show all year round. I knelt before the display and was overcome with tears. I knew the necklace was not where it was supposed to be, it belonged back in the Taleju Temple in Kathmandu,” she said. “I was emotionally moved, and could not move away from it.” <figure><img width="640" height="853" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131148/636cf31f9c7e80680e09d94djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>As more and more Nepali antiquities are traced to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-homecoming-of-nepals-gods/">Western museums and private collectors</a>, pressure is building for their return, as well as to find the identity of international smuggling networks with their Nepali accomplices responsible for the thefts three to four decades ago.In April, Nepal welcomed back a stolen <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-homecoming-of-nepals-gods/">12th-century stone sculpture of Laxmi-Narayan from the Dallas Art Museum</a>, where it had been exhibited after being stolen in 1984 and last sighted at a Sotheby’s auction 30 years ago (below). <img width="1500" height="1002" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131148/636cf3229c7e80680e09d94ejpeg.jpg" alt="">The necklace itself is studded with semi-precious stones and inlaid with smaller depictions of the eight astamatrika goddesses. And inscription at the front proves that it once belonged to King Pratap Malla who ruled Kathmandu from 1641-74 -- one hundred years before the Valley was conquered by Prithvi Narayan Shah.In 1970, the necklace was among the treasures that were ordered by the Panchayat government at the time to be moved to the nearby Hanuman Dhoka Museum which was deemed to be safer since it was guarded by the Royal Nepal Army. It disappeared in 1976.“The government wanted to move the treasures for safe-keeping, but it got stolen anyway. The high priests at the time had warned officials that this would anger the powerful Taleju god. Sure enough, within a year, King Mahendra died,” says Uddhab Karmacharya, the eighth generation high priest of the Taleju Temple from the family <figure><img width="640" height="960" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131148/636cf3259c7e80680e09d94fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“How was it possible that such a sacred item could be stolen from such a highly secure place?” asks Karmacharya, whose father was the head priest when the treasures were ordered to be transferred. Art historians say that the Taleju necklace and other religious objects in Nepal could not have been smuggled out without collusion between international art dealers, criminal networks and their accomplices on the ground in Kathmandu. “The inscription at the front of the necklace leaves no doubt not only about when and where it was made, but also where it was intended to stay,” explains American art crime professor, Erin Thompson.  The Art Institute of Chicago exhibit includes details of the necklace, and says that it was among items gifted by the US-based Alsdorf Foundation. Interestingly, this the same foundation that used to also own the stone sculpture of the 13th century Chaturmukhi Shivalinga (below) that the museum handed over to the Nepal Embassy in Washington in April for restitution to Nepal. <figure><img width="397" height="463" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131148/636cf3279c7e80680e09d950jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/130700/necklace-inscribed-with-the-name-of-king-pratapamalladeva">The provenance of the necklace</a> also mentions that it was sold by Bruce Miller Antiquities of Sausalito in California on 22 June, 1976 to the Alsdorf Foundation — the very year that the necklace was believed to have been stolen in Kathmandu.  The information is contained in an invoice in a curatorial file given to the Art Institute Chicago in 2010 that notes: ‘Receipt of Object #26939 … on loan to the museum since July 8, 1976’.  “The Art speaks for itself … it is a masterpiece, one of a kind, it was a royal commission for the clan deity, Taleju Bhawani,” said the administrator of the site Lost Arts of Nepal which had also traced and posted information of the object in the Chicago Museum in March. The post contains the transliteration of the inscription. “कन्थि।। श्री श्री श्री भगवती देवी जननी जयति:। स्वस्ति महाराजाधिराज श्री श्री राज राजेन्द्र कवीन्द्र जय प्रताप मल्ल देव स कथि जुरो शुभ।।"“Victory to the Mother-Goddess [Bhagavati devi Janani]. Hail! [This] is the necklace of the king of kings, lord of kings, lord of the poets, the victorious Pratapamalladeva (may it be) auspicious.”The Alsdorfs, through their foundation or individually gave as many as 14 Asian antiquities in their collection to the Art Institute. Noted Chicago collector and philanthropist couple James and Marilyn Alsdorf were especially interested in sacred art, and there are even photographs of some of these stolen objects adorning their swimming pool (below). <a href="https://twitter.com/artcrimeprof/status/1386639539725344768">Art crime professor Erin Thompson writes on Twitter</a>: ‘Totally culturally disrespectful and all. Some of their collections have problematic provenances, to say the least. ”The Aldorfs also had many other stolen religious objects from India and tibet in their collection. <a href="https://twitter.com/poetryinstone">Vijay Kumar</a>, the co-founder of the India Pride Project and author of The Idol Thief told Nepali Times: “The Alsdorfs have been a part of many high profile repatriations in the past, it is high time that the US government also start investigating the provenances of the Alsdorf collection.”Some of the objects from the Alsdorfs collection have been put up in auctions at <a href="https://www.christies.com/features/The-Collection-of-James-and-Marilynn-Alsdorf-10107-3.aspx?fbclid=IwAR1xe3CUvqICJmwa_US8CaQDlmU-Jega_aQZegCb4WYDbm0Bfa5zMWDo5gg">Christie’s</a> in the past. The Taleju necklace appears to have been a gift from Marylinn B Alsdorf to the Art Institute of Chicago, according to Lost Arts of Nepal which has all been trying to trace the provenance of the two stone sculptures from the Alsdorf collection that the Art Institute Chicago sent back to Nepal in April. <figure><img width="1080" height="695" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131148/636cf3289c7e80680e09d951jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Says Sangeeta Thapa of Siddhartha Art Gallery in Kathmandu: “Why haven’t we looked out for antiquities that went south before being re-exported in the late 70s, 80s. The Nepal government needs to be more proactive on this, it is time to look at our own backyard and the region.”  <img width="640" height="322" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131148/636cf32b9c7e80680e09d952jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="640" height="360" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131148/636cf32e9c7e80680e09d953jpeg.jpg" alt="">While the Taleju necklace has been located and the Nepal government says it will start working on its repatriation, Lost Arts of Nepal has also started investigating the provenance of two other Nepali deities at the Art Institute of Chicago that were also gifted by Marylinn B Alsdorf (above). One is a <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/148392/buddha-sheltered-by-the-serpent-king-muchalinda">Muchalinda </a>Buddha statue from Guita Tole in Patan, where the first photo of the figure in the shrine was taken by the Department of Archaeology. The second is of a <a style="font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/148371/dancing-bhairava-a-horrific-form-of-god-shiva">dancing Bhairava</a> which was documented in a book by art historian Jurgen Schick.

In the black and white photograph, General Wangdu smiles broadly in front of the dusty cactus garden in Kathmandu’s Annapurna Hotel. With an ill-fitting jacket and shaggy hair he looks benign enough, but this was the last leader of the Tibetan freedom fighters who led the resistance against the Chinese from their remote mountain hideouts in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/comings-and-goings-in-mustang">Mustang</a>. Five months later, Wangdu was dead. Snapped in March 1974, I had only recently arrived in Nepal. How did I meet this legendary fighter? Possibly with his devoted camp follower, Lynne Klapecki, and probably in the Om Restaurant near Freak Street which was the preferred <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/hippie-trail-nostalgia-in-kathmandu">hippie hang-out</a>. Om Lobsang and his brother Yeshe were <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/earthquake-brings-back-memories-of-camps-for-tibetan-refugees">refugees from East Tibet </a>whose cafe offered a friendly welcome and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/momo-loco"> the best momos</a> - they became my in-laws after I married their eldest brother Tenzin, but that was a decade later.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1583" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Photo: LISA CHOEGYAL</figcaption> </figure>  Wangdu’s English was enthusiastically rudimentary, but even riding around town with him on the back of an aging <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-new-motorbike-museum">motorbike</a>, he was a commanding presence. Always flanked by armed outriders, impressive scars marked his forearms and a pistol hung from the cord around his neck. A charismatic guerrilla leader, Wangdu was celebrated by his followers for his tough commitment and respected for his measured pragmatism. He seemed so young to have shouldered such a responsibility of command, leading hundreds of hardened <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/50-years-after-the%20raid-into-Tibet,1012#google_vignette">Khampa combatants </a>through what had been a particularly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/heavy-snowfall-over-nepal-himalaya">brutal winter in Mustang</a>, the last bastion to hold out against the Chinese invasion of their Tibetan homeland.&nbsp; The freedom fighters of Tibet, known as the Chushi-Gangdruk, had emerged to resist the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism">Chinese takeover</a> of Tibet during the 1950s. Estimated to be 80,000-strong at the time of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-or-who-after-the-dalai-lama">the Dalai Lama</a>’s final escape to India in 1959, the sheer number of Chinese deployed into Tibet eventually forced the Chushi-Gangdruk to retreat to Mustang, From this high Himalayan stronghold, they continued cross-border raids on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) throughout the 1960s.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="676" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Guerrillas known as the Chushi-Gangdruk emerged to resist the Chinese annexation of Tibet during the 1950s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>  Their Kathmandu base was a small discreet lodge in a back lane near Rani Pokhari. Sipping sweet tea from a blue mug with a chipped lid, I sat bemused in a corner of the Mustang Hotel room whilst Wangdu and his cohorts received a battered brown suitcase from their CIA connection, a tousle-haired American in a leather jacket. Heaved onto the dingy bedspread that covered the thin mattress, it was clicked open to reveal piles of neatly stacked dollar bills.&nbsp; I cannot think why Wangdu allowed me to witness this handover but I was clearly no threat, a newly arrived world traveller with no understanding of the stakes nor any Nepali or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/tibetan-music-in-nepals-sacred-valley">Tibetan language</a>. Despite armed guards in the corridor,Wangdu radiated confidence and bravado, and there was a practiced familiarity to the tense transaction. This deadly dance for many years had been funded by the Americans, tolerated by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-kingdom-within-a-republic">Mustang’s residents</a>, and permitted by King Mahendra and the Nepali authorities who it suited to turn a blind eye.&nbsp; But Mahendra died in 1972, and times were changing. Richard Nixon’s ping-pong diplomacy thawed the cold war and signalled a fresh entente with China. Nepal’s yet-to-be-crowned <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-could-still-be-a-monarchy">King Birendra </a>was under pressure to curb the irritating incursions against the PLA launched from the Nepali territory of Mustang. Keen to appease his northern neighbour, on several occasions the King summoned Wangdu for peace talks but, despite increasingly overwhelming odds, Wangdu refused to surrender.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1055" height="885" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>General Wangdu flanked by two Tibetan resistance fighters in Mustang in the 1970s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31" data-rendition-name="original" width="1044" height="792" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>King Birendra with General Wangdu (right in dark glasses) taken in 1974 possibly in Mustang after one of their few attempts at negotiation. Photo courtesy: RAJRNDRA KUNWAR</figcaption> </figure>  While I naively rode pillion around Kathmandu in the spring sunshine, Wangdu was in the midst of what turned out to be his final round of negotiations with the Nepal government. Refusing to cease hostilities with the Chinese, Wangdu must have suspected the cost of his decision, making his cheerful smile in the photograph all the more poignant and brave. It was only much later that I appreciated the significance of the moment. Wangdu had been sent to replace the first resistance leader in Mustang, Baba Gen Yeshe, a much derided corrupt character who stole money meant for his troops and exploited fleeing refugees by seizing their treasures. Baba Gen Yeshe never forgave Wangdu,and sought revenge in May 1974 by betraying him and his commanders to the Nepal authorities. Renewed Chinese incursions from the north, active PLA collusion with the Nepali forces under the new King, and treachery from within the Chushi-Gangdrukranks combined to seal their fate.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="769" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>British television journalists George Patterson and Adrian Cowell embedded themselves with Khampa guerrillas and accompanied them from Tsum Valley on a cross border raid on a Chinese Army convoy in 1964. Photo: ESSAYS ON NEPAL / SAM COWAN</figcaption> </figure>  Mikel Dunham, renowned author of Buddha’s Warriors, writes: ‘It is possible that Wangdu was waiting for some cue from the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. It is equally possible – during that last, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-human-cost-of-nepal-s-yarsa-gold-rush?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR31-Cqw8oyIwMPzf_35e4Skr0ululJvLf3_vDkzHn-AYG2h8uPw2rqqErg_aem_tGVn5coY1-jA7fze_xqhew">desolate winter </a>– that he made the decision to go out in glory rather than admit defeat. Over the last fifteen years, Wangdu had experienced Tibet’s organized resistance being squeezed and shoved around by every conceivable outside force.&nbsp; First they had been pushed out of their own country by the PLA; then they had been refused sanction while on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds?fbclid=IwAR0PpJ5zUEbwdug3g_U3ar6FUugngRY0S8Tl2v_7wqzrsHmXWcXsKjvL4t4">Indian soil</a>; then they were abandoned by the Americans because, apparently, Nixon wanted to make friends with Wangdu’s mortal enemies, the communists; then they had been betrayed by the vampiric Baba Gen Yeshe – a Tibetan and, even worse, a fellow Khampa; and now, finally Wangdu’s army was being evicted by the Nepalis. One thing was certain: Wangdu was a warrior. To imagine Wangdu simply giving up and settling down in the pacific squalor of a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp">refugee camp </a>was unthinkable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49.jpg" data-media-id="editor_20" data-image-id="2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="746" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>The much derided Baba Gen Yeshe, the first Tibetan resistance leader in Mustang, who betrayed Wangdu for personal gain. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_21" data-image-id="2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="656" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Aditya SJB Rana of the Royal Nepal Army whose team ambushed Wangdu and his cohorts at the top of Tinker Pass in Darchula, West Nepal. Photo courtesy: GAUTAM SJB RANA</figcaption> </figure>  By August 1974 the game was up. Wangdu and six of his exhausted party were killed on their horses by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7270">the Royal Nepal Army</a> on the brink of escape. The officer in charge, Aditya SJB Rana, cleverly predicted their route into India after they failed to silence a police radio in Yari. A carefully laid ambush trapped them near the summit of the Tinker Pass in Darchula,at 5,000 meters the highest military operation of its time. Wangdu’s body was helicoptered to Kathmandu, and a big show made of the royal Nepal victory.&nbsp; The Tibetan armed insurgency against China had reached its end.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_23" data-image-id="20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> </figure>

The Last Days of the Khampa

Fenerbahçe Beko won the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague finals in Abu Dhabi, held 23-25 May, defeating Monaco 81-70 in the final. Olympiacos, who defeated Panathinaikos 97-93, finished the series in third place. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final match, Nigel Hayes-Davis from Fenerbahçe Beko, received a prize of 1,000,000 Miles&amp;Smiles from Turkish Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer Ahmet Olmuştur. The carrier has been the title sponsor of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, a top tier tournament, since 2010.

Turkish Basketball

Starting 17 September Turkish Airlines will fly daily to Seville, one of Spain’s major tourist draws. This is Turkish’s sixth destination in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, and Bilbao. Seville is in the Andalusia region on Spain’s south coast with a rich Moor history. There are approximately 30,000 Nepalis living in Spain.&nbsp;

Turkish to Seville

The newly-formed Himalayan Art Council is set to launch Nepal’s National Art Protection Platform that seeks to preserve <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage">Nepal’s unique cultural heritage </a>using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificial-censorship"> AI-powered tools</a>. The Council seeks to safeguard <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places">Nepali art works</a> from neglect, theft and counterfeiting as well as preserve existing artwork and celebrate living masters by giving them a cultural space to continue the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival">sacred art traditions</a>. "We are introducing a new digital platform designed to preserve, verify and elevate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-new-generation-of-alternative-artists">Nepal’s art for generations to come,</a>” says a statement from the Council, adding that the digital platform will use AI told for authentication and blockchain to keep track of works of art. Artists can now be protected by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai?fbclid=IwAR1uwmTVq4gUB70ljfRezjzukD9ArWXPuMnUikopeQ8PoiZMjicToPSwhKE&amp;=1">AI tools</a> that detect forgeries, identify their work even when unsigned, and ensure they receive proper recognition and credit. The archives will be searchable with translated inscription and interactive guides. Says curator Meena Lama: “AI and blockchains are tools that give us the power to detect fakes and identify unsigned paintings and track every piece. With these tools we can restore trust, secure authorship and give artists the dignity they deserve.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum."> <figcaption>Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  The Council is also holding an exhibition of Nepali cultural masterpieces with 50 historical <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671">thangka and paubha </a>by past masters and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">contemporary works by current artists</a>. This curated collection is a living tribute to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">Himalayan culture</a> with economic depictions of deities, mandala and sacred narratives. The exhibition at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-portal-into-patan-s-past-and-present">Patan Museum</a> also provides an opportunity to meet painters and custodians of art and culture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/golden-deities">Golden deities</a>, Sewa Bhattarai ‘The exhibition is only the first step in a long journey to ensure that Nepali art is no just seen but fully understood, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987">protected and remembered</a>,’ the Council says. Artist Kailash K Shrestha of Artudio has spent decades promoting thankha and paubha traditions because of their beauty and devotional meaning. But he also says artists are underpaid, exploited and ignored. He adds, “AI and blockchain are not just buzzwords, they are powerful tools that can protect Nepal’s artists from fraud, verify authenticity and build a permanent record of provenance.” Traditional Art Exhibition Till 17 May Patan Museum

chaturmukhi-shivalinga

How Nepali antiquities got to Chicago museum

How Nepali antiquities got to Chicago museum

The Last Days of the Khampa

Turkish Basketball

Turkish to Seville

Digital protection for Nepal’s art