National Museum of History receives bronze statue of Goddess Durga returned by UK

This comes after a ceremony took place in London in the UK in September, 2023, to give back the bronze statue of four-armed Goddess Durga, dating back to the seventh century, to Vietnam.

The four-armed goddess Durga statue is 191cm in length and 101kg in weight, with the object being recognised by UNESCO as a world heritage relic. It was stolen from the My Son Sanctuary in Vietnam’s central province of Quang Nam in 2008.

The return of the artefact is the result of a long investigation carried out by the US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) into the activities of the art dealer Douglas Latchford, as well as collaboration with London's Metropolitan Police to return stolen artefacts to their homelands.

The Vietnam National Museum of History has made plans aimed at preserving Vietnamese cultural artefacts after receiving the four-armed goddess Durga statue on June 18.