Representing strength, victory, and the vanquish of evil, the Hindu god Hanuman is often depicted in statue form at many hindu temples.
At the Hindu Temple Association in Hockessin, it will be hard to miss.
Standing at 25 feet tall, this is the tallest statue of a Hindu god in the country. It was carved from a solid block of black granite and took over a year to make.
The temple was established in 1996 and now supports thousands of Hindus in the tri-state area. The temple offers spiritual services as well as a network of volunteers to help out those who need support.
This will be the second large religious statue located in Delaware. The other may be familiar to those passing over the Delaware Memorial Bridge. Our Lady Queen of Peace statue stands at the Holy Spirit Church in New Castle.
The president of the association, Patibanda Sarma, says the statue must first be transformed into a holy object.
“Once the statue is made according to a prescribed process by an artisan and is delivered to the temple, the temple priests normally conduct a 10 day, a 5 to 10 day rituals, mostly involving fire offerings and other rituals. And also the community is invited to bond with the statue.”
Sarma says the next step after the installation is to invite the Hindu community to come and connect with the new statue.
“And these ceremonies usually culminate with two events, Yantra Pratishtha and Prana Prathistha, it’s really a two step process.”
He says usually an event like this can attract thousands of visitors. But due to COVID-19, special precautions are being taken to avoid a large gathering.
Visitors must first register for a time slot, then groups will be bussed to the statue site together to avoid a large group of people. Anyone who wishes to visit the state this weekend can sign up on the Temple's website.
Roman Battaglia a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms.
