Tallest Lord Murugan statue in the world

Malaysian Indians are the 3rd largest ethnic groups here where most of them are largely descendants from South India, migrated here during the British ruling of then Malaya. THAIPUSAM is celebrated by Hindu Indians on the 23rd of January this year. Next to Deepavali (festivals of lights), Thaipusam is the most elaborate and colourful celebration here for the Indians. It is time to pay homage to Lord MURUGAN, the most popular Hindu deity among south Indians. He is also the God of War and reference of him had been traced back to the first millenium BCE. We have the tallest Lord Murugan statue in the world. Standing at 42.7 m (130 feet) high, it took 3 years of construction and unveiled in January 2006. It stands tall just outside Batu Caves (Limestone cave)which is 400 years old and have at least 1.5 millions of pilgrimage every year. Patrons goes through strict religious fasting and prayers to enable them to perform or endure unbelievable sacrifices. Hooks, spears or many other type of ornaments on any part of the body. Many do it to fulfil a vow or to give thanks to Lord Murugan. I will post some of the colourful feasts and the 'milder' pictures of sacrifices as I am sure most have not seen them. Most pilgrims will have to walk the 272 steps to the Cave where most of the prayers are done. Pictures are courtesy of SJ PHOTOGRAPHY, used with permission and thank you SJ for sharing :)

Murugan is venerated through out the Tamil year. There is a six day period of fast and prayer in the Tamil month of Aippasi known as the Skanda Shasti. He is worshipped at Thaipusam, celebrated by Tamil communities worldwide near the full moon of the Tamil month Thai. This commemorates the day he was given a Vel or lance by his mother in order to vanquish the demons. Vaikasi Visakam or the full moon of the Tamil month of Vaikasi signifies his birth. Each Tuesday of the Tamil month of Adi is also dedicated to the worship of Murugan. Tuesday in the Hindu tradition connotes Mangala, the god of planet Mars and war. This reveals the link between Skanda and Kujan (Mangala).

Grand feat

Gazing at the magnificent 42.7m-high statue of Lord Murugan at Batu Caves, Selangor, artisan and sculptor R. Thiyagarajan still has trouble believing that his team’s three years of sweat and toil have come to fruition.

It is believed to be the tallest Lord Murugan statue in the world and the Sri Subramaniar Swamy Temple officials are aiming to get it into the Guinness Book of World Records.

The RM2.5mil statue is expected to pull in even more local and foreign tourists to the popular Batu Caves which already draws about 2,000 people daily.

Lord Murugan, also known as Subramanya, Skanda and Kartikkeya, among others, is popular among the Saivite Hindus of south India and is regarded as a protector of their culture and language.

Thiyagarajan, 42, from Trivarur, in Tamil Nadu, India, and his team of 14 workers began work after receiving a call from temple chairman R. Nadarajah.

The challenge was getting the statue’s proportions right.

“The statue is divided into nine-and-a-half portions from the head to the feet. Each portion is accurately measured and these measurements must be very precise,” he told The Star.

It is made up of 1,550cu.m of concrete, 250 tonnes of steel bars and 300 litres of gold paint. The foundation reaches 3.04m (10ft) underground.

“We had to work within a small area, lining up the bricks because of the scaffolding and the cover for the statue,” he said, adding that the carved garland and the vel (spear) were each 27.4m (90ft) long.

“Our main goal was to make sure the statue was free of flaws,” he said.

Thiyagarajan is no stranger to creating Hindu deity statues in Malaysia. He helped construct the Mariamman Temple in Tasek Gelugor, Seberang Prai, in 1991 before coming to Kuala Lumpur where he built the Meenakshi Amman statue at Batu Caves.

He and his team also did the 36 Vinayagar statues in Kortumalai Temple on Jalan Pudu, Kuala Lumpur, and the 50-feet (15m) tall Anjaneya statue, also in Batu Caves.

Thiyagarajan learned his trade from his grandfather, K. Periasamy Pillay and another guru, N. Kathiravale, in Thanjavur for 10 years before branching out on his own.

source: http://www.echarcha.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22595