Canada to return 18th-century statue of goddess Annapurna to India

The 18th-century statue is believed to be originally from Varanasi. However, it was later added to the collection housed at the MacKenzie Art Gallery of the The University of Regina.

Thomas Chase, the interim president and vice-chancellor of the Regina University handed over the statue to Ajay Bisaria, India's high commissioner to Ottawa in a virtual repatriation ceremony held on Thursday.

According to a press release, "Indian artist Divya Mehra brought attention to the fact that the statue was wrongfully taken over a century ago while going through the MacKenzie's permanent collection and preparing for her exhibition from India to Canada and Back to India. "

The statue was part of a bequest in 1936 by Norman MacKenzie, the gallery's namesake. According to the press release issued by the government.

Later, Dr. Siddhartha V. Shah, Curator of Indian and South Asian Art at the Peabody Essex Museum identified the statue as the Hindu goddess Annapoorna from her 'female physical characteristics'.

He said, "She holds a bowl of kheer (rice pudding) in one hand and a spoon in the other. These are items associated with Annapoorna, who is the goddess of food and the queen of the city of Varanasi. "

After reading about the discovery of the stolen statue, both the Indian High Commission in Ottawa and the Canadian Heritage Department arrived and offered to assist with repatriation.

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