In the November 2020 episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’, the prime minister mentioned that an antique idol of Goddess Annapurna, which was stolen from a ghat in Varanasi around 1913 and taken to Canada was now being brought back to India from Canada.
The 18th century idol of Goddess Annapurna was a part of the collection at the MacKenzie Art Gallery of the University of Regina. The statue was traced when Winnipeg-based artist, DivyaMehra, was invited to stage an exhibition at the MacKenzie Art Gallery. There she came across a Benarasi-style sculpture which looked like Vishnu. It was found out that the sculpture had been stolen from a temple in Varanasi in 1913 and acquired by MacKenzie. Later, the curator of Indian and South Asian Art at Peabody Essex Museum, US, confirmed that it was indeed an idol of Annapurna. The statue was sculpted as Annapurna holding a bowl of ‘kheer’ in one hand and a spoon in the other.
As per the research conducted by DivyaMehra, art collector MacKenzie might have illegally brought the statue from India in 1913. It was added to the collection of gallery after a request by Norman Mackenzie in 1936.
DivyaMehra spoke to John Hampton, interim CEO at the MacKenzie Art Gallery, and requested that the statue be repatriated to India.
The virtual repatriation ceremony took place on November 19, 2020. The Annapurna statue will be handed over to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which is the official custodian of all such repatriated artefacts. After a thorough verification and documentation, a decision on the final custody of the statue would be taken. The ASI has been tasked with the responsibility relating to the security arrangements of the idol before handing it back to the trustees at the temple.
Other Repatriations
Between 2014 and 2020, the Government of India has been able to retrieve 40 antiquities from various countries. As per ASI records between 1976 and 2014, 13 antique pieces had been repatriated to India.