300-year-old stolen Ram Darbar idols returned to Buxar Mutt

Buxar: Seven 300-year-old Ashtadhatu idols, stolen nearly three years ago from the Ram Darbar at Dhakaich Ram Janaki Mutt, were finally released from the Koilwar police station storeroom in Bhojpur and restored to the temple on Wednesday, rekindling religious fervour on the Mutt premises.

Temple trust secretary Kanhaiya Dubey said the idols were originally installed by the Maharaja of Nepal 300 years ago. With their return, religious fervour has once again gripped the premises, and preparations are underway for their reinstallation.


The idols were released on Tuesday following the completion of the Rs6-lakh bail-bond process in the court of the chief judicial magistrate (CJM). After their release, they were taken to Barka Dhakaich in Buxar district, where rituals were performed before sending them to the Ram Janaki Mutt.

Lawyer Dhanesh Pandey said the recovered Ashtadhatu idols are extremely valuable, and their estimated worth in the international market at around Rs68 crore.

The idols — of Lord Ram, Lakshman, Mata Sita, Hanuman, Laddu Gopal and a crown — were stolen from the Ram Janaki Mutt in Badka Dhakaich on Jan 21, 2023. Police recovered them the next morning from a car near Ara–Chhapra Mor and arrested one accused along with a country-made pistol.

Earlier, on June 6, 2011, three idols were stolen from the same Mutt, and priest Bhuneshwar Das was murdered. Three persons were arrested in that case. The stolen idols were recovered in 2013 from the Koilwar police station area and later reinstalled after due legal process.