New Delhi: The Central government will on Thursday hand over the idol of Goddess Annapurna to the Uttar Pradesh government, which was recently retrieved from Canada.
The stone idol of Goddess Annapurna was stolen about 100 years ago from Varanasi. It will be installed at Kashi Vishwanath Temple on November 15 by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Union Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi offered prayers to the idol at the National Art gallery, here. Later in the day, the idol will be taken from Delhi to Aligarh. From there, it will be taken to Kannauj on November 12 and will reach Ayodhya on November 14.
"It will reach Varanasi on November 15, where it will be placed at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple after rituals," said a statement here.
Taking to Twitter, MoS External Affairs, V Muraleedharan said, "The idol of Goddess Annapurna, which was retrieved from Ottawa, Canada, will begin its journey today for its rightful place at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Varanasi."
The Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not only made efforts to help retrieve these antiquities, but personally brought them with him during his official tours abroad.
"The recent success is because of our continuous cultural relations with various countries of the world and the warm personal relations which the PM @narendramodi shares with other heads of the countries," he tweeted. (UNI)