THRISSUR: A giant statue of Lord Hanuman, carved out of natural single stone, will soon become the pride of Seetharama Swamy temple at Poonkunnam, Thrissur.
The 35-ft statue will be placed in front of the temple, and the structure will have a total height of 55 feet, including its foundation.
The sculptor, Subrahmania Achary, hailing from Allagadda, Nadyal in Andhra Pradesh, crafted the statue, and it was transported by a large carrier vehicle to the temple.
District collector Krishna Teja was present for the welcome ceremony, along with the Kalyan family and a huge crowd of people.
According to D Moorthy, of the temple committee, “It is the largest monolith (ottakkal) statue of Lord Hanuman in South Asia. The religious rituals after installing the statue on its foundation will go ahead according to the plans.”
The official inauguration is scheduled for April 24, following the ‘Pranaprathishta’ rite or ceremony by which a statue is consecrated in a temple.
Sources have estimated that the cost of the statue and its transportation from Andhra Pradesh to Thrissur was approximately Rs 75 lakh.
Subrahmania Achary, a sculpture expert in big-sized statues, has been working on such projects for years. Some of his notable works include a 45-foot Lokeshwar statue in Sri Lanka, a 35-foot Hanuman statue in Mysore, and a 25-foot Dhathreya statue in Karnataka, all carved out of natural stone.
Achary shared that it took three months to complete the Hanuman statue, with a team of ten labourers working day and night for the first two months to carve the rough figure that was then transported from the hilltop to the artist’s place for finishing work that took one month.
Archaeology department officials in Andhra Pradesh have granted permission for taking the natural stone to carve sculptures out of it.
Achary explained that they first do rough calculations of the statue’s height and the needed size of the stone. Based on this, they select the stone with the support of archaeology department officials.