On Wednesday, April 26 the New York County District Attorney’s Office officially handed over 18 Tibetan religious artifacts to Dharamsala-based Kirti Monastery based in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India. This was made possible through the investigative efforts of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit team led by its Chief Assistant District Attorney Mathew Bogdanos. The Assistant District Attorney noted the fact that Himachal Pradesh “was also home to a Tibetan Buddhist monastery founded in 996 CE.”
The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama extended its heartfelt gratitude to the New York County District Attorney’s Office for its investigation and into the provenance of certain Tibetan cultural artifacts and for securing their rightful repatriation to their monastery of origin–a moment of great satisfaction for the Tibetan people and the preservation of their sacred heritage in freedom and dignity.
Founded in 1870 in the Ngaba region of northeastern Tibet, Kirti Monastery has historically been one of the most important centers of Gelug Buddhist learning and practice in the Amdo region. Since China’s invasion of Tibet in 1950 and the devastation of the Cultural Revolution, more than six thousand monasteries and religious institutions across Tibet were destroyed, and countless sacred artifacts were looted, dispersed, and absorbed into the international art market — often with little scrutiny applied to their origins.