Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Nepal has received a collection of more than 800 historical manuscripts and documents dating from the 13th to the 20th century from Germany.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Shisir Khanal received the collection of historical documents at a handover ceremony held at the National Archives on Friday.
Prof Dr Axel Michaels of Heidelberg University and the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities formally handed over the collection, known as the Josef Peter Rindfleisch Collection of Nepalese Documents, to Minister Khanal.
The collection includes 460 highly fragile palm-leaf manuscripts, handwritten in Sanskrit and Nepal Bhasha/Newari using Bhujimol script — some among the earliest recorded manuscript traditions of Nepal—alongside royal documents, court records, Sanskrit texts, Tantric text (Smasanyoga), Ayurveda text, personal notes, travel diaries and historically significant correspondences.
Speaking on the occasion, Khanal described the return of the manuscripts as a milestone in the preservation, protection and promotion of Nepal’s written cultural heritage.
He commended the efforts of Michaels, Heidelberg University, the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the Embassy of Nepal in Berlin, and scholars, researchers and institutions involved in the repatriation of the valuable historical materials.
Khanal also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to repatriating historical antiquities from around the world in the coming days.
Ram Bahadur Kunwar, director general of the National Archives; Prof. Dr Axel Michaels; and German Ambassador to Nepal Udo Eugen Volz also addressed the ceremony.
The Embassy of Nepal in Berlin and the Heidelberg University had signed a handover agreement for restitution of the collection at a special ceremony held at the Centre for Asian and Transcultural Studies (CATS), Heidelberg, in the last week of April.
