UP CM Yogi Adityanath installs retrieved Annapurna idol at Kashi Vishwanath temple

VARANASI: An 18th century idol of Goddess Annapurna, brought back to India recently after being kept for over a century in the University of Regina’s collection at MacKenzie Art Gallery in Canada, was consecrated by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the courtyard of Lord Vishwanath at Kashi Vishwanath temple for worshipping in a grand ceremony amid chanting of Vedic mantras on the occasion of Devthan Ekadashi here on Monday.
“Kal tak murtiyan chori hoke bahar jati thi, aaj wapas aa rahi hai (till recently, idols were stolen and smuggled but are now being brought back,) said Yogi after consecrating the idol at ‘Ishan kon’ (northeast point) as per Vastu Shastra near the northern entry gate of KVT.
CM thanks PM for idol brought back to Kashi
Addressing a function organised at the Rudraksh International Convention centre after the installation ceremony, Yogi said, “There was no other better place than KVT to install this idol, which returned here after being stolen 108 years ago. It will make the coming generations aware about how the symbols of culture and heritage of India had been left to be stolen and smuggled in the past and also inspire them to preserve it.”
Expressing gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his efforts for bringing the idol back to Kashi, he said, “The theft of idols for smuggling used to hurt the sentiments of the people but the previous governments did not bother. The PM is ensuring the return of such idols from across the world. While returning from the US recently, the PM brought back 156 such idols and antiquities with him.”
“Kashi has always been an attraction for people from across the world due to it being an ancient centre of Sanatan Dharma and spirituality. Despite this fact, Mahatma Gandhi had to give a bitter reaction over the sanitary condition in and around the KVT in 1916 during his visit. In the name of Mahatma Gandhi, many ruled the country for decades but never tried to ensure development of the shrine and city as per its stature,” said Yogi, mentioning that after over 100 years of Gandhi’s remark, how the PM ensured the development of KV Dham (corridor) as per the stature of this shrine.
“The idol of Goddess Annapurna, which has returned due to efforts and inspiration of the PM, has been consecrated on the courtyard of KVT in its ‘Ishan kon’ (northeast point) as per Vastu Shashtra on the auspicious occasion of Devthan Ekadashi,” said Yogi, praising the PM for beginning construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya by ensuring a permanent solution of the five-century-old dispute, efforts for cleaning of river Ganga, making Yoga global, ensuring that no one starved during the pandemic with the best Covid-19 management in the world and giving the vision of development of everyone without any discrimination as per Vedic traditions.”
Regarding the delayed arrival of the rathyatra (carrying the idol) from New Delhi on November 11, Yogi said, “When the rathyatra to bring this idol to Kashi from New Delhi was planned, it had been decided that it will move 4-6 hours per day and halt in different cities in night. But, lakhs of people kept turning up on roads in all districts through which it passed. Thus, the possibility of a night stay on the way to Kashi ended.”
He said that he had reached Kashi on Sunday evening and also visited Durgakund, where the rathyatra had to halt at night after entering Kashi in the afternoon, but it reached during wee hours on Monday.
Earlier, UP minister of state (independent charge) for tourism and religious affairs Neelkanth Tiwari, who had left Ayodhya with rathyatra on Sunday morning, reached Varanasi at 4 am. Tiwari said, “Delay was caused as thousands of people at hundreds of points in Pratapgarh, Sultanpur and Jaunpur had surrounded the rathyatra to welcome it and offer prayers to the idol of the goddess. To avoid any further delay, the rathyatra could stay at Durgakund for a few minutes only after reaching there around 7 am.”
A huge crowd also showered petals on the rath yatra before it reached KVT.
Before the arrival of the idol inside KVT, a band of 11 priests had started rituals of consecration. After the idol was brought down, Yogi took it inside the temple in a silver palanquin and completed the rituals of consecration.