The Statue of Lakshmi-Narayana, a historic Vaikuntha Kamalaja stele from Patan, was handed over to Nepalese custody in Washington, D.C. after decades outside Nepal. The sculpture had been worshipped locally for centuries, disappeared from its temple in 1984, passed through the international art market, and was later loaned to the Dallas Museum of Art. Research, public attention to its provenance, the Dallas museum, U.S. Embassy channels, Nepal Police, and the FBI contributed to its return. The March 5 handover was important beyond a single object because it connected museum provenance research, social-media scrutiny, diplomatic procedure, and sacred-object restitution.
The return became a visible precedent for further claims on Nepalese sacred objects abroad.