A massive new statue has been unveiled in the United States, with the gargantuan construct not honoring a famous American or historical figure but rather a polytheistic group’s god with the head of a monkey.
The “Statue of Union” was inaugurated Aug. 18 at the Sri Ashtalakshmi Hindu Temple in Sugar Land, Texas.
It depicts the Hindu god Lord Hanuman, one of the religion’s countless deities. Hanuman, a god of strength, devotion and selfless service, is most often depicted with the head and tail of a monkey.
The monument stands exactly 89.7 feet tall, making it the third-tallest statue in the United States, according to the “Statue of Union” website.
World Atlas data backs up this claim, showing only New York City’s Statue of Liberty and the Hallendale Beach, Florida “Pegasus and Dragon” to be taller works.
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Plans to build the statue were initially revealed to the public in August 2023.
The statue is a “vision” of Swami Chinna Jeeyar, a Hindu religious leader and ascetic. The Sugar Land statue is one of many swamis from his sect have seen built.
A video shows the scale of the statue as seen from its base.
Prana pratishtha held today in Houston, Texas for this 90ft tall Hanuman murthi
It is now the 3rd tallest statue in the United States pic.twitter.com/N7sNZaikBF
— Journalist V (@OnTheNewsBeat) August 19, 2024
Earlier this year, while the statue was still under construction, the Houston-area Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple found itself embroiled in controversy and thrown into a massive legal battle.
In a lawsuit filed April 1, Fort Bend County resident Vijay Cheruvu claimed his 11-year-old son was branded on the shoulders by the temple in the course of a fervent religious ceremony. He seeks more than $1 million in damages.
The boy was allegedly branded while attending the ceremony with his mother and without Cheruvu’s knowledge. The mother was allegedly branded by the temple in August 2023.
Images obtained by Houston Public Media show two symbols burned onto the boy’s shoulders, one appearing to be a shell-like symbol and the other an image of a Hindu god.
“This is happening basically in our backyard over here, so that’s the reason we filed the lawsuit,” Cheruvu’s attorney Brant Stogner told HPM.
“We want to make sure our community is aware of this and want to make sure it doesn’t happen to anybody else, anybody else’s child or any child at all.”
Stogner says that nearly 100 adults and at least three children were branded in the April ceremony. He said Cheruvu’s son was left “extremely confused” and “extremely traumatized” by the incident.
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“They knew what they did was very wrong because they told me to keep it secret from everyone else,” the 11-year-old said in a news conference after the suit was filed, according to NBC News. “But I had to tell my Dad when the pain got worse and it became infected.”
“It hurted so much that I almost cried.”
