Goddess Annapurna idol retrieved from Canada to be kept at Kashi Vishwanath Temple

PTI, Nov 3, 2021, 8:52 AM IST

New Delhi: An idol of Goddess Annapurna which was retrieved from Ottawa, Canada, will be placed at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi which will be its final resting place, the culture ministry said Tuesday.

Union Minister for Culture, Tourism, and DoNER G Kishan Reddy stated that he will provide details of the journey of the idol and the efforts made to retrieve and bring home the idols and antiquities from various countries on November 3 at the residence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adithyanath.

Since 1976, as many as 55 idols have been returned to India. Seventy-five percent of the idols that have been returned were done so during the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the ministry said.

Out of the 55 antiquities, 42 were returned after 2014 with the Annapurna Devi being the last addition to this, it said.

The Annapurna idol will be taken from Delhi to Aligarh on November 11, from there it will be taken to Kanauj on November 12 and reach Ayodhya on November 14, the ministry said.

Finally, it will reach Varanasi on November 15 where it will be placed at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh after the appropriate rituals, the ministry said.