Hockenssin becomes home to "US Tallest" statue of Hindu deity Hanuman

By Reena Bhardwaj
Hockessin (Delaware) [USA], June 16 : Carefully crafted in India and widely worshipped in the United States, a towering statue of Hanuman was installed on Monday in the city of Hockessin- making it the country's tallest Hanuman statue.
Costing more than a whopping $100,000 for construction and logistics, Standing 25 feet tall and weighing more than 30,000 kg, this handcrafted statue has been chiselled from a single block of black granite in Warangal, a small town in southern India.
The statue has been handcrafted by a number of artisans or Shilpils, who specialized in the skill and It took more than a dozen of them working full-time for more than a year to carve out the installation.
Donning bright orange shirts that read, "The Hanuman Project," more than 300 families, temple devotees and resident priest organized the ten-day-long Sthapana or installation ritual.
Back in January, the 25 feet tall installation Travelled from Hyderabad to New York by ship, and then by flatbed truck to Delaware, to the state's largest Hindu temple. For the purification of the Moorty, after it arrived Nagraj Bhattar, a priest from Bangalore who has been with the Hindu Temple of Delaware performed several rituals including purification of the deity with rice grains, water and flowers beds.
The priest and the devotees then performed the Puja for a Devine intervention at a time when COVID derailed so many lives. '
"We all believe that with the moorty coming to Delaware, lord Hanuman will bring all the good things like he bought the Sanjeevani. So that was the main central focus for all devotees and the priest," Bhattar told ANI.
Once the statue was unveiled American Senator Chris Coons, New Castle County executive Matt Myer and Lt Governor of Delaware Bethany Hall-Long also stopped by to support the Indian community and seeks blessing at the Hindu Temple.
The president of the Hindu Temple of Delaware association, Patibanda Sarma, says the statue was supposed to be celebrated by thousands of devotees. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, there weren't many gatherings of the public during the installation ceremonies, he added.
In an interview to ANI, Sarma thanked everyone who made this happen with a special mention to those people of all faiths who worked tirelessly to make it happen.
"It is a big tribute to all the people who handled the idol, we have been very fortunate, I must say whenever we have any contract, whether it is crane operators to lift or concrete operators to install. I am not exaggerating they take more than more care than we do ourselves very careful about handling the statue, and being respectful that's more important," he added.
Sarma says the next step after the installation is to invite the Hindu community to come In batches and offer their prayers to the almighty and in the days to come the statue will be open to people of all faiths.