By NNN-PTI,
Rourkela, India : Rourkela city in Sundargarh district of Orissa state has to its credit of having the tallest statue of a Hindu diety in Asia.
On entering the city, one cannot miss to have a look at the giant statue of Lord Hanuman, measuring 74 feet and one inch.
The statue which is in ‘Hanuman Vatika’, a temple complex surrounded with beautiful gardens, is said to be the tallest statue in Asia.
Hundreds of visitors, including devotees, throng the temple daily to offer prayers to Lord Hanuman.
“‘Hanuman Vatika’ is an important landmark in Rourkela and on auspicious dates apart from Saturdays and Sundays more than 10,000 people offer prayers to Lord Hanuman coming from Jharkhand, Bihar and even faraway Chhattisgarh,” Manager of the temple complex, B R B Mishra told PTI.
The vatika, spread over an area of 12 acres, has several other small temples of Lord Shiva, Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Sister Subhadra, Vaishno Devi, Somenath, Ma Bata Mangala, Ma Bimala and Lord Sri Ram.
The magnificent statue was sculpted by a renowned artist of Andhra Pradesh, Togu Laxman Swamy who took about two years to complete it.
Interestingly, when the statue was unveiled by the then chief minister Biju Patnaik on February 23, 1994, he was taken atop by a crane to garland the statue.
The religious complex, which is managed by Jai Hanuman Trust, also provides platforms for social functions like marriage and other activities and also has a catering service of its own.