Brought Back from Canada After 108 Years, Goddess Annapurna's Idol Installed at Kashi Vishwanath Temple

Varanasi, November 15: THE Kashi Vishwanath Temple wore a festive look on Monday as it became complete once again on the occasion of Devothan Ekadashi after a gap of more than a century, with the arrival and reinstallation of Goddess Annapurna's idol on the temple premises in an emotionally charged atmosphere and in the presence of thousands of jubilant devotees.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath led the procession and also shouldered the palanquin carrying the idol of the Goddess of food, who, according to the religious belief, feeds the entire world, while it was entering the temple premises as scores of devotees thronged India's oldest temple town's streets to celebrate the occasion, shedding tears of joy, shouting "Har Har Mahadev" and beating drums while the priests chanted Vedic hymns and blew conch shells.

The CM attended the rituals leading to the reinstallation of the Goddess' idol and also offered prayers to Goddess Annapurna and Lord Shiva on the solemn occasion. The reinstallation of the idol began with the offering of Ganesh Vandana (prayers) and reciting of Annapurna shlokas. The idol of the Goddess was decorated with a silver crown and a pink saree and was laden with garlands of marigold.

As the celebrations went on, everyone ranging from the CM and the priests to the common people of Varanasi, thanked Prime Minister Modi, who incidentally represents Kashi parliamentary constituency, wholeheartedly for his efforts to bring the idol home.

Later addressing a gathering at the Rudraksh Convention Centre in Varanasi, CM Yogi said: "The credit for bringing the idol of Goddess Annapurna from a museum in Canada 108 years after it went missing from Kashi, to the temple town goes entirely to the honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The PM has actually facilitated return of 156 such idols and other artefacts that had been smuggled out of India in the past. Earlier, things representing our glorious cultural heritage were being stolen from us, but today, those things are being brought back from different parts of the world and being preserved to inspire the today's and the future generations, thanks to PM Modi's efforts."

CM Yogi added the PM, through his slogan "Sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas and sabka prayas" has summed up the message ingrained in the hymns of great Vedas in simple language so that common people can easily understand them and the glory of India is restored to the country. "Committed to the uplift of each and every individual of the country irrespective of caste or community, the PM has given a new vision to India", he said.

Yogi said that the shobhayatra carried out for the ceremonious return of Goddess Annapurna to Kashi got overwhelming response of people at all the places it visited during the last four days.

With this event, the wait for the Goddess Annapurna's idol, which was smuggled out of country more than a century ago and was one of the prized possessions of MacKenzie Art Gallery at the University of Regina, Canada, was finally over and pilgrims will now be able to offer prayers not only to Lord Shiva, but also to Goddess Annapurna who, according to religious belief, feeds him.

The shobhayatra had started in Delhi on November 11 and concluded in Varanasi late Sunday night covering Ghaziabad, Noida, Bulanshahar, Aligarh, Hathras, Kasganj,

Eta, Mainpuri, Kannauj, Kanpur, Unnao, Lucknow, Barabanki, Ayodhya, Sultanpur, Pratapgarh and Jaunpur districts on the way.

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