Lagatar24 Desk
Varanasi, Nov 15: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday installed a rare idol of Maa Annapurna Devi which was stolen from Varanasi about 100 years ago at Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi.
“After 108 years, Maa Annapurna’s idol has returned to Kashi once again. The credit goes to the MP from Kashi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I express heartfelt gratitude to him on behalf of everyone in Kashi and the state,” said Yogi expressing his gratitude to PM Modi.
Notably, the stone idol of goddess Annapurna, dating back to the 18th century, was brought back to India from Canada on November 11. The four-day-long Shobha Yatra of Maa Annapurna was concluded on Sunday night with the arrival of the idol in Varanasi. The idol is 17 cm in height, 9cm in breadth and 4 cm in thickness.
According to Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, 42 rare heritage artefacts have been returned to the country since 2014 during the tenure of PM Modi. At present, 157 sculptures and paintings have been identified abroad. Discussions are going on with several countries to bring them back to India.
