Posted on October 23, 2023 by Sweta Gyanu Baniya, Ph.D.
Today is Nawami Day, the ninth day of the Dashain festival in Nepal, and the day when the doors of Taleju Bhawani temple are open for visitors and worshippers. This is the second Dashain when we desperately waited for the Art Institute of Chicago to return the necklace of Taleju Bhawani necklace and yet, the museum keeps it open on display as its own when it doesn’t belong to it. There has been so much outcry and so many demands, letters, public advocacy, greater journalism pieces and articles, and whatnot… yet for a powerful institution like the Art Institute of Chicago, it doesn’t matter. They are not accountable and they are not respectful towards the larger community in Nepal where people are waiting for the arrival of Taleju Bhawani’s necklace. The more I write and talk about this necklace, everyone I have spoken to (non-Nepalis) has said that the necklace shouldn’t be here and should be sent back to where it belongs – to the Taleju Bhawani who was gifted this necklace. This necklace is not just a piece of exotic art but it was a piece that was worshipped for many years until its disappearance. Many onlookers might not know why it is so important to the Nepali community but this piece is a part of our Goddess and we would like it back and we would like to worship it. Art Institute of Chicago is not allowing this to happen because we have to prove the provenance, we have to prove that it was lost, we have to do all the paperwork, etc. But when there was no paperwork that existed from where we will ever prove that is ours is ours? This is just too ridiculous!
But Goddess will find her way home! When she wants it no one can stop and the pathway will be created. I hope the Art Institute of Chicago realizes that what they are doing is colonial and it is not okay! I will continue to advocate for this and so will many other Nepalis. Hopefully, next Dashain we will take the Goddess Home.
Now it is two years that I stood up next to the necklace and asked for the return of the necklace. But the Art Institute of Chicago is not listening!
We are hopeful and counting the days for Goddesses’ return to Nepal. It will happen. It should happen.
Posted on October 4, 2022 by Sweta Gyanu Baniya, Ph.D.
In Nepal, it is early morning on the 9th day of the Dashain festival. The Nawami Day! On this day, the temple of Taleju Bhawani temple in the heart of Kathmandu city opens up to the public. I used to do everything to be there on this day to enter the temple of Taleju Bhawani. The aura of this temple is different as you can undergo a transcendental experience of being one with the Goddess. Something deeply spiritual and some affective moments can occupy you! At least it would do that to me. It is still Asthami day here in the US. However, I am imagining and reminiscing about the Nawami day in Nepal. I imagine that people would have already gathered outside the temple of Taleju Bhawani to visit the Goddess and to offer their love, respect, and devotion.
On this day of Nawami, a lot of Nepalis could have seen the necklace of Taleju Bhawani, had the Art Institute of Chicago returned it to Nepal where the necklace actually belongs. However, this is second Nawami after her necklace was located in the institute, a lot of Nepalis are deprived of seeing the necklace
One year ago, I was at the Art Institute of Chicago, when I saw the necklace of Nepali Hindu Goddess Taleju Bhawani. Within their display and description, they have mentioned: “Necklace Inscribed with the Name of King Pratapamalladeva” and the country of origin as Nepal itself. After a year of lobbying by various lost arts activists like Lost arts of Nepal and Nepal Heritage Recovery Campaign, and many investigations by prominent journalists in Nepal and all over the world, the Art Institute of Chicago continues to confiscate our heritage, our pride, and our Goddess’ necklace.
Exactly, one year later I visited the Taleju Temple in mid-June, 2022. I had by this time and moment thought that the necklace will have been successfully restored. The moment I shared the video, it was picked up by the media, activists, and also the Government of Nepal. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tweeted that they have informed the concerned departments and it felt like the necklace would be returned the very next day. However, the Art Institute of Chicago doesn’t seem like wanting to return this necklace. The necklace photographed below belongs to our Goddess, still confiscated by the Art Institute of Chicago. There has been proof sent of how and why this necklace actually belongs to Nepal and how the institute should return this. But what people have heard is NOTHING. The Art Institute of Chicago is doing a powerplay of remaining silent and exercising western power by not returning what belongs to Nepal.
I have personally written a letter and dropped it at the Art Institute of Chicago, went to the museum to protest, and have written many times about how and why the necklace should be returned. There are various published news and articles that hopefully will draw attention. But what the institute does is remains silent. Silence is powerful and the institute knows it. However, it is the responsibility of the museum to return the sacred items and stolen artifacts to its own space. By doing this the institute is standing up against illegal trafficking and buying selling but is fulfilling the larger purpose of being a museum. By returning this necklace the museum will be:
Adhering to the UNESCO Framework a framework for theft prevention and the return and restitution of stolen cultural property
Standing up against the theft, illegal trafficking, and buying-selling of these artifcats
Fulfilling the responsibility to the Nepalis by returning the stolen artifact and not depriving Nepali people of their history and culture
Helping to strengthen the social cohesion in Nepal
Lastly, doing the very right thing
Today, on this day of Nawami, we hope and desperately pray for the return of the Goddess’ necklace. One day, our Goddess’s voice will be heard. We all will be heard. Art Institute will break its silence. There is no room for injustice in the current world.
Taleju Temple is on the far right as seen in Kathmandu. Photo: Sweta Baniya
Taleju Bhawani’s Necklace on Display at the Art Institute of Chicago. Pic: Dr. Abhilasha Shresthat. 12.10.2021
At the moment, it is 10:30 PM in Chicago. I have just returned back to my hotel after watching a baseball game. I am tired but I can’t sleep. I am in shock and surprise and my heart is just going back to the Art Institute in Chicago where I found something stolen from my country, from my Goddess – openly displayed in pride to thousands of visitors. I found Taleju Bhawani’s necklace supposedly gifted by King Pratapmalla (r 1641-74) somewhere around the 17th century here in Chicago. This necklace which belongs to my Goddess Taleju Bhawani, which was supposed to be in Nepal– was here – in Chicago-in an open display to thousands of visitors who have no idea of the religious and spiritual value to me and many other folks like me.
Yesterday, after coming to Chicago after a two hours drive, we went directly to the Art Institute of Chicago. We had planned specifically to come here and specifically to see Taleju Bhawani’s lost/stolen necklace. As I entered the “Indian, Southeast Asian, and Himalayan Art” section which was titled “Alsdrof Galleries”- my heart started throbbing and I started to tremble. Many tourists who were visiting were taking selfies with our Gods openly displayed. As I entered, a big statue of Lord Gautam Buddha was there, staying silent as the visitors took selfies. As I roamed around, my memories went back to Kathmandu~ my hometown ~ the city of temples ~where every street has Gods and Goddesses and temples. But this was not a temple, there was no holiness about this space, it was a museum and not a sacred space where our Gods and Goddesses reside and/or are kept with the highest belief and value.
I wanted to see the necklace. I found the necklace carefully curated inside a glass box. When I first took a glance at the necklace, I started to cry, my body started to tremble, and I was overpowered with emotions. I joined my hands together and kept on bowing down to my dearest Goddess Taleju Bhawani crying. I couldn’t see her necklace being displayed like this and started to bow down and pray. I don’t know if I was supposed to do this while there were a lot of onlookers but I couldn’t help myself. She is the Goddess of our Kathmandu valley. The marks of century-long vermillion powder were still there, signifying that this piece was worshipped as a part of Taleju Bhawani and probably worn by the Goddess herself or as noted in the description also by the then King Pratapmalla. There was a strange piece of information: “the gift of Alsdrof foundation” which made me google the foundation which doesn’t yield substantial information. How did they find this? From whom did they purchase this? Why did they decide to donate? How long did they keep this necklace hidden and why? All those questions came to my mind.
The major question in my mind however was still: Why is Taleju Bhawani’s necklace here? What is this necklace doing here? How did this necklace end up here?
Taleju Bhawani Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal. Pic: Dr. Abhilasha Shrestha
While being overwhelmed with emotions, anger, confusion, I contemplated the Temple of Taleju Bhawani (picture above) which opens only once a year for the public. Every year on the day of Navami, I would go to Taleju Bhawani mandir to worship her, to feel her power, and to get a transcendental experience. However, one can never see the idol of the Goddess (at least I never saw one). I was told that only the essence of the Goddess is brought on display in the form of a Kalash. Taleju Bhawani herself resides at the Dashain Ghar which isn’t open to the public and she lives in the human form as the Kumari – the living Goddess of Nepal.
In my other interaction with respected Priest Uddhavman, I had asked him “since you are the major pujari, please tell me how does the Goddess looks, how is she like, what form is she in” and he had replied, “the Goddess is a Bindu, a point and here I give you this point in the form of tika from my hands that have touched the Goddess.” This sentence has never left my life. Though Pujari Ji might not remember my name, he changed my perception of religion that day. The Goddess is within me always, all the time. Hence, since then I have always felt a spiritual connection with the Goddess but this sentence reaffirmed it.
Yesterday, to see the necklace of the Goddess, her property, her gift – stolen, ripped off from her, sold, and then “gifted” to a museum and displayed to thousands of onlookers – broke my heart. I felt helpless as I remembered Uddhavman Pujari Ji’s words as I shed my tears. While my question was answered, I was seeing her necklace to be exposed and to be viewed by everyone who may not have a spiritual connection like I do, who may not have the same beliefs that I do, and who may or may not care that stolen pieces should never be in public display – and it should be returned.
Yesterday, Taleju Bhawani invited me to tell the world that her stolen piece is here. I, my phone, technology, the internet all of us in combination, we became a medium to communicate to many people back home that it is the time that the Art Institute in Chicago should return this piece.
Taleju Bhawani wants her stolen property, her gift, her necklace back. The Goddess wants to go back.
I appeal to the Art Institute of Chicago, to help our Goddess return her property home. Help return a stolen necklace to our Goddess.
Updated:
On December 10, 2021, I visited the Art Institute of Chicago Again and I found that even after raising our voice six months ago, the necklace was still there. It wasn’t a surprise but even with raising our voice against it, we were unheard. After my tweet, there was so much discussion about how it should be returned. Even the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had tweeted that they sent a request to the US Embassy and the concerned department. However, the necklace was still there. Hence, I would like to do another appeal of returning the necklace to Nepal.
Return Taleju Bhawani’s Necklace. Picture by Dr. Abhilasha Shrestha. 12/10/2021 at the Art Institute of Chicago
Posted on August 9, 2016 by Sweta Gyanu Baniya, Ph.D.
As, I embark on a new journey~ I wish to take you with me as I have always been clinging on you in my ups and downs, in laughter and cries. Today, you turn 8. Can’t believe that our journey together has crossed eight lovely years! You endure to exist and so do I through you! You have been struggling for the existence I know~ like I do~ like everyone does. Congratulations!! Dear Blog!
You are the room of my own!!! And, the most important thing you provide me is – “Confidence”- to be myself, to write, to express, to share, to be able to make an opinion, to be able to stand distinct.
It has been a real warm journey with you, through different simulacra. Here, I am in the new world, to start a new journey of life and I am sure – you will keep on providing me confidence~ to work hard more and continue on motivating me to write- which I have not been doing so often. And, continue to become a space~ where I rest myself as a whole! May be, I will need you more, here!
Happy Eighth Birthday Blog~ From Lafayette, Indiana.
Posted on March 4, 2014 by Sweta Gyanu Baniya, Ph.D.
Published in Kathmandu Post on Feb 28…
Photo Credit: Kathmandu Post.. ( I loved this art)
(Navigating the rituals and myths, sorrows and shame that menstruation has come to be associated with in our part of the world.)
The place was murky, sunlight pushing to make its way through the lone window—but it was not allowed here, and its failed attempts to brighten and cheer rendered the atmosphere even more murky. Below the dark chimney sat my bed, much too big for a 10-year-old. My fourth grade books, bag, school clothes, shoes and socks were scattered here and there, along with a steel plate, glass and bowl, on which I would be served my meals, like a jailed convict, I remember thinking. Also lying around were my dolls, and the little pieces of cloth I would cut out to make dresses for them; ‘talatuli’ we called them. Yes, I was at a talatuli-playing age, blessed with all the innocence that implies.
“You’re a woman now,” the maid says.
“How? Please tell me.”
“Being Nachhuni makes you a woman. And because this is your first time, you can’t touch your father or your brother.”
“I’m a woman now?”
“Yes.”
How horrible was that day? The flowing of blood from where you peed, and the realisation that that you have no control over that flow, can’t stop it, even when your body trembles and hurts. Continue reading →
Posted on January 4, 2013 by Sweta Gyanu Baniya, Ph.D.
I had been avoiding this news of an Indian girl being raped –and now she is dead. It was hard but I was avoiding this because I could not even read the pain that girl went through– the word is so terrifying “Gang Rape”!! The word itself gives me goosebumps. But I could not avoid it too–when I read the news– I was like totally devastated, depressed, sad, angry, frustrated, I was trembling and was feeling horribly helpless. How much brutal can a human be? Can they ever realize what they did with that innocent girl? So many thoughts have been hovering in my mind. The dichotomy between Good and Evil, the process of being Evil and the choice of being Evil..
And, now I hear the news of 6 year old being raped? How insane I feel?
While hundreds of thousands of people throng to street in India because they could relate to the same feeling, they felt same pain, the same fear of being raped. Why do our parents always say come home on time, you are a daughter, you should be home on time, you should not go alone out at night? Yes, they fear it too. They fear that their daughters will suffer similar kind of tragedy in life. There is a proverb which my sister repeats time and again — “Din affno, Rat arkako”– (Day is ours and nights are of others). And, I have been a journalist for past four and half years..working during odd hours and especially doing the night duty and returning home late. Didn’t I fear the silent cold road and only few vehicles plying?…Does my working place care that I am scared of driving after 8 PM?? Yet I always drove back home –being scared ! My sister fears even if I am late by 5 minutes…But why? Whats the matter that scares me and her? The thing I don’t want even to think about it or feel it — it is not being robbed –it is being RAPED!!! Continue reading →
Posted on May 27, 2012 by Sweta Gyanu Baniya, Ph.D.
by Sweta Baniya
KATHMANDU, May 27 (Xinhua) — With just few hours deadline remaining for the expiry of Constituent Assembly (CA) of Nepal, the situation has been perplexed as the uncertainty of constitution promulgation has gripped the nation.
“May 27” has been historically registered period of promulgating the first federal constitution in Nepal which is expected to ensure the rights of all the Nepalese. Sunday marks the last ultimatum to draft the new much awaited constitution in the nation and there is a serious hurry in leaders as the confusion persist among them due to their own stances.
There has been mounting fears that the country’s CA will be annulled in the one hand and on the other the country will not get the constitution. Meanwhile, a meeting among the three major parties — Unified Communist Party of Nepal- Maoists (UCPN-M), Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) — along with Madhesi Front is underway making final efforts to forge consensus on contentious issues. However, continuous dialogue is ongoing among leaders for over a month but no consensus or any conclusion has been fetched out.
Nothing seems to be certain in the nation and people are wondering “what next”. At a time when the country’s mood had to be euphoric with the arrival of the much awaited constitution, the situation in the country has been just opposite.
Moreover, the extremist voices coming from different ethnic fronts in the nation have further deteriorated with least hope of the constitution promulgation. During the whole month, Nepal also saw various kinds of protests, shutdowns and strikes.
Nepal has been facing a lot of political challenges after the CA was formed in 2008 which has been extended for four times after its first due date expired in the year 2010.
Yet, Nepali leaders had forged consensus on extending the deadline one more time amid mounting criticisms. However, Nepali Supreme Court (SC) issued an interim order directing the government not to take ahead the proposal to extend the CA’s term.
On August 28, 2011, Nepal elected its 35th Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai after a lot of obstacles in the Nepali parliament and misunderstandings between the leaders of the major parties.
Maoist PM Bhattarai-led government is the fourth government since 2008 and all three previous governments have failed to complete the major tasks of constitution drafting and peace process. On May 5, after all the major parties came together, a national coalition government was formed under Bhattarai’s leadership from which, however, the Nepali Congress has resigned.
Meanwhile, with the looming deadline of the CA on May 27 in Nepal, security in the capital Kathmandu has been beefed up in order to avert any untoward incidents.
As many as 10,000 security personnel have been deployed in the capital fearing possible clashes among different agitating groups. Time limit is decreasing, yet the till midnight every one will be remaining anxious. They wonder to know what will be the next scenario in the nation. Enditem
Posted on July 17, 2009 by Sweta Gyanu Baniya, Ph.D.
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles at Gurukul…
And, Odepius Rex ‘s Tickets were selling like the hot cakes…that’s why I was disappointed Saturday…but not on Sunday….
Oedipus Rex begins with the city plagued..and people have gathered around his palace. Oedipus has been made King of Thebes in gratitude for his freeing the people from the presence of the riddling Sphinx. Since Laius, the former king, had shortly before been killed, Oedipus has been married to Queen Jocasta and has children with her.
Once again Thebes is in problem and people want Oedipus to rescue them. Creon, Queen Jocasta’s brother has been sent to God Apollo who return with the news that the cause of plague is because of criminal who has killed King Laius. Then a blind seer,Tiresias is called and he reveals that Oedipus is himself the killer…and is son of King Laius and husband to his own mother. In outrage and anger Oedipus imposes on the penalty of exile for the murderer of Laius.
Queen Jocasta, however says that King Laius had been killed by robbers years later at the junction of three roads on the route to Delphi. Continue reading →
Posted on April 19, 2009 by Sweta Gyanu Baniya, Ph.D.
To,
The writer of article Sinema Hall ki Sundari, published in Hello Sukrabar, Kantipur daily on Chaitra 28, friday,
Dear Writer !!!
The first thing I felt after reading your article was, “I was seriously dissappointed and whole heartedly embarrassed”. It was just opposite to what I have ever expected from your article.
Analysing your article I found it totally dominating the female gender, which will obiviously hurt me. A writer whose articles are time and again published in Kantipur daily has published this article which is totally directed towards the male superiority. Continue reading →
Posted on December 28, 2008 by Sweta Gyanu Baniya, Ph.D.
I am feeling lucky. The advancement of technology through which I am able to type these wonderful words,thanks to adsl and special thanks to inverter by grace of which adsl modem is running and special thanks to this N82 in which i am typing these words. I am enjoying this cool morning in front of this fire no electricity so no computer…no college because of another strike and no office because of no electricity and what about lazy sweta cheers another day to rest. Lovely cell blog my 1st mobile entry cheers
The Coffee House Revival (Excavating Freedom) 