The Hindu : 36-foot Anjaneya idol to be installed at Panchavatee

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 10, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

36-foot Anjaneya idol to be installed at Panchavatee

By A.V. Ragunathan

The 36-foot Anjaneya idol to be installed at Panchavatee.

VILLUPURAM June 9. Till now the 34-foot Anjaneya statue at Nanganallur in Chennai is said to be the tallest of its kind in this part of the country.

The Panchamukha Sri Jayamaruthi Seva and Charitable Trust, which sculpts gigantic statues of Anjaneya, has sculpted a 36-foot `Viswaroopa Jayamangala Panchamukha Sri Anjaaneyaswamy idol'.

Said to be the tallest in Asia, the idol will be installed at Panchavatee on the Tindivanam-Pondicherry national highway on June 11. The new abode of Anjaneya has come up at a place 9 km from Pondicherry and 29 km from Tindivanam.

The idol has five faces and 10 hands. It has been carved from a single granite stone, measuring 40 feet length, 15 feet breadth and 10 feet high, and it has been unearthed from Siruthamur.

It took about 15 months to take out the granite, without chipping off any portion. Then it was transported by a specially-devised trailer to the Swarna Sirpa Kalaikudam of the renowned M. Muthiah Sthapathi.

The work started on February 12, 2000 and completed on June 3 this year.

The trust founder, Ramani Anna, said the trust hoped to complete the raja gopuram, artha mandapam, maha mandapam, yaga sala by 2004-end. The entire project is estimated to cost Rs. 5 crores (which could be possible only through donations).

It has also been decided to construct temples for Valamburi Ganapathy and Pattabisheka Ramachandran.

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