An 18th-century idol of Maa Annapurna, which was stolen from Varanasi more than 100 years ago and later found in a museum in Canada, will be installed at the Kashi Vishwanath Mandir in Varanasi on November 15. The idol was handed over to India recently, and today the Uttar Pradesh government started a four-day Mata Annapurna Devi Yatra from Delhi to take the rare idol to Varanasi.

The Idol was handed over to the Uttar Pradesh Government on Thursday at the national capital at a colourful event amid a cheering crowd of devotees. Union Minister for Culture and Tourism G Kishan Reddy presented the idol to Suresh Rana, minister in the Yogi Adityanath government. Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani and Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi in the union cabinet were also present at the event.

After the handing over ceremony, the grand procession (shobhayatra) carrying the idol of Goddess Annapurna started, with brief stopovers at Mohan Mandir in Ghaziabad and at Dadrinagar Shiv Mandir in Gautam Buddha Nagar. After that, it proceeded to Bulandshahar from where it will go to Aligarh, Hathras and Kasganj where it will have an overnight stay.

On Friday (November 12), the shobhayatra will have stopovers in Eta, Mainpuri, Kannauj and Kanpur where it will stay for the night. On Saturday, (November 13), the shobhaytra will travel to Unnao, Lucknow, Barabanki and Ayodhya where it will have an overnight stay. reach

Finally, it will reach Varanasi on November 14 via Sultanpur, Pratapgarh and Jaunpur. The idol will be installed at the Kashi Vishwanath temple amid chanting of Vedic hymns at a formal ceremony on the occasion of Devotthan Ekadashi on November 15. The idol will be consecrated by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on November 15 in the Kashi Vishwanath Mandir.

The return of the Maa Annaourna idol from Canada to India was announced by Prime Minister Modi in his weekly Mann Ki Baat radio address last year on November 29. PM Modi had informed that Canada will be returning a very ancient idol of Devi Annapurna, which was stolen from a temple of Varanasi and smuggled out of the country about 100 years ago.

“Mata Annapurna has a very special bond with Kashi [Varanasi]. And the return of the idol is very pleasant for all of us. Like the statue of Mata Annapurna, much of our heritage has been a victim of international gangs,” the PM had said.

Annapurna, also spelt Annapoorna, is the goddess of food, and also the deity of the city of Varanasi. The idol found in Canada is 17 cm in height, 9 cm in breadth and 4 cm in thickness. It was discovered by Artist Divya Mehra at the University of Regina’s collection at the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. She was invited to stage an exhibition at the gallery, when she started researching the collection on the university, and spotted the idol which was thought to be Lord Vishnu. She noticed that the sculpture appears to be female, and it was holding a bowl of rice.

Searching the records, she found that the idol was stolen from an active temple in India in 1913 and it was acquired by MacKenzie. Siddhartha V Shah, Curator of Indian and South Asian Art at Peabody Essex Museum, US, later confirmed that the sculpture is indeed of Goddess Annapurna, and she has a bowl of kheer on one hand and a spoon in the other hand, items associated with the Goddess of food.

Divya Mehra’s research showed that the idol was given to Canadian art patron Norman MacKenzie by a stranger after stealing it from a temple in Varanasi. It was part of the private collections of MacKenzie, which he had donated to Regina College (later university), and the Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery was established by the college to showcase this collection.

After confirming the identity of the idol, Mehra talked to the CEO of the Gallery and requested its repatriation. After learning about the discovery of the stolen statue, the Indian High Commission in Ottawa and the Department of Canadian Heritage also came forward and offered to assist with the repatriation.

While handing over the sculpture to India, University of Regina’s Vice-Chancellor Thomas Chase had said, “As a university, we have a responsibility to right historical wrongs and help overcome the damaging legacy of colonialism wherever possible.” He had further added, “Repatriating this statue does not atone for the wrong that was done a century ago, but it is an appropriate and important act today.”

The Union Minister for Culture and Tourism G. Kishan Reddy had recently said that as many as 42 rare idols and antiquities have been returned to the country by different countries during the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whereas from 1976 to 2013, only 13 rare works of art could be brought back.

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opindia.com - OpIndia Staff