Source: www.timeslive.co.za
CHATSWORTH, AFRICA, October 24, 2010: The temple society at the Shri Vishnu Temple in Chatsworth believes this Hanuman statue will be the largest Hanuman in Africa. Temple officials decided to erect the mammoth statue three months ago during a meeting to discuss plans to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Indians in the country.
Project coordinator .LC. Maharaj said the statue, which is 13m high, including the umbrella over the head of the Deity, was “in praise of the Almighty, without which the survival and success of Indians in South Africa would never have been possible”. He said the statue, which still requires plastering and painting, would be officially unveiled at the beginning of December.
He appealed to community members to contribute to the completion of the project. Contractor Umash Harripershad, who is working on the statue, said: “We have used 12 truckloads of ready-mixed concrete in this project, 53 tons of which went into the foundation alone. The temple provided the design.” He said despite working with a staff of only six to eight untrained devotees and a couple of casual workers, the project, which should have taken 12 months, would be completed in a quarter of that time. Harripershad had been on a strict fast and had been sleeping on the floor for the past three months as a sacrifice for the work he considered “honorable”.