Rare idol of Goddess Annapurna, stolen 100 years back, to be installed at Kashi Vishwanath temple

New Delhi: A rare idol of Goddess Annapurna, stolen from Varanasi about 100 years ago and retrieved from Canada recently, will be installed at the famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple on November 15.

The central government will hand over the idol to the Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday at an event in Delhi. Union Minister of State Meenakshi Lekhi on Thursday said that the government will hand over the idol of Maa Annapurna to the Uttar Pradesh government today. 

Lekhi said, "An idol of Maa Annapurna, which was stolen from Varanasi about 100 years ago was retrieved from Canada recently. The idol will be installed at Kashi Vishwanath Temple on November 15. The government of India will hand over the idol of Maa Annapurna to the Uttar Pradesh government today."

An idol of Maa Annapurna, which was stolen from Varanasi about 100 yrs ago was retrieved from Canada recently. The idol will be installed at Kashi Vishwanath Temple on Nov 15. Govt of India will handover the idol of Maa Annapurna to UP Govt today: MoS MEA Meenakshi Lekhi at Delhi pic.twitter.com/xcSXqrTsjD

— ANI (@ANI) November 11, 2021

Lekhi also offered prayers to the deity today at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi. Later in the day, the idol will be taken from Delhi to Aligarh. From there it will be taken to Kanauj on November 12 and it will finally reach Ayodhya on November 14.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will consecrate the idol at Kashi Vishwanath Temple on November 15. The idol is 17 cm in height, 9 cm in breadth and 4 cm in thickness. 

According to Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, 42 rare heritage artifacts have been returned to the country since 2014 during the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

Whereas between 1976 and 2013, only 13 rare statues and paintings could be brought to India. At present, 157 sculptures and paintings have been identified abroad. Discussions are going on with several countries to bring them back to India. 

Efforts are on to bring idols from Singapore, Australia, Switzerland and Belgium. Efforts are also being made to bring about 100 idols from America.