New Delhi: Devotees will once again get to visit Mother Annapurna Devi after nearly 100 years at an initiative by PM Narendra Modi. The statue of the mother, who was smuggled to Canada about 100 years ago, has been brought back to India. Which will now be installed at Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, the actual location of the statue.

The statue of Mother Annapurna Devi was brought back to the country on October 15 last. It was only in November last year that PM Modi announced the return of the statue of Mother Annapurna to the country. PM Modi had said during his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat that it was stolen and sent out of the country around 1913. In this case, union culture minister G Kishan Reddy had informed on Tuesday (October 2, 2021) that the statue of Mother Annapurna from Ottawa, Canada has been found by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and will be taken to Varanasi.

According to the Ministry of Culture, 55 statues were returned to India in 1976, out of which 75 per cent were received during 2014-2021. Out of this, 42 statues were brought back to the country after 2014. The ministry has said that the statue of Mother Annapurna will first be taken to Aligarh on November 11, then Kannauj and Ayodhya on November 14. It will then reach its last destination Varanasi on November 15, where it will be installed at Kashi Vishwanath temple after religious rituals.

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