KATHMANDU, JUNE 24 Nepal has secured the return of two valuable cultural antiquities from the United States following their recovery by American authorities. At a special ceremony held at the Consulate General of Nepal in New York, ownership of a 13th-century bronze statue of Padma Pani and a 16th-century wooden statue of Nrityadevi (Goddess of Dance) was formally transferred to the Government of Nepal. According to the Consulate General of Nepal in New York, the transfer was formalised through the signing of the Minutes of Concurrence by Consul General Dadhiram Bhandari and Colonel Matthew Bogdanos, Chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. Speaking at the event, Consul General Bhandari said the Padma Pani statue originally belonged to Tham Bahil (Vikramashila Mahavihara/Bhagwan Bahal) in Kathmandu and is believed to have been smuggled to the United States sometime between 1971 and 1987. Likewise, the Nrityadevi statue, originally from I Baha Bahi in Patan, Lalitpur, was reportedly trafficked abroad between 1969 and 1983. The artifact was later recovered from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The antiquities were recovered through coordinated efforts involving the New York County District Attorney's Office, US Homeland Security Investigations and other partner institutions. The two artifacts are scheduled to arrive in Nepal on June 25 and will be handed over to the Department of Archaeology for conservation before being restored to their original sites.