By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: An 18th century idol of Goddess Annapurna brought back from Canada last month was handed over to Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday at a ceremony in the national capital. The deity was stolen and taken out of the country around 100 years ago from Varanasi.
Present on the occasion were more than 12 Cabinet ministers including Hardeep Singh Puri, Smriti Irani, G Kishan Reddy, Dharmendra Pradhan along with several UP government ministers.
The idol will be placed in Kashi Vishwanath Temple on November 15 after appropriate rituals.
Priests from four prominent temples in Delhi — Jhandewalan, Chattarpur, Kalkaji, and Chittaranjan Park — performed rituals during the handover ceremony. Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakshi Lekhi supervised proceedings.
Reddy said because of the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the idol of Goddess Annapurna had come back to India.
“In coming days, after consultation with the local governments, two statues will be sent to Tamil Nadu and one each to Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan,” he said.
The Archaeological Survey of India had received the Annapurna idol on October 15.
Centre sets up repatriation task force
To ensure speedy repatriation of stolen antiquities, which were smuggled out of the country, the Central government has set up a task force with officials of the ministries of external affairs and culture.
