For posts on all structures such as temples, churches and building I have come across, go here.
Prologue: A series that showcases the beautiful temples and churches I visit in my travels or I accidentally come across while taking an off-beaten path. And sometimes yes, I would include buildings and palaces too.
While I was in India last year, I got to see The Statue of Equality – the second tallest sitting statue in the world, 216 feet statue of the 11th-century Indian philosopher Ramanuja, located in the village of Muchintal, Hyderabad, India.
It is made of Panchaloha – an amalgamation of five metals gold, silver, copper, brass and zinc. The statue sits on a lotus atop a three-story base building Bhadradevi, carried by 36 elephants. The base building has a meditation hall where a 54 inches (1.4 m) statue of Ramunuja made of 120 kg of gold, representing the years he lived, is installed – which we were not allowed to photograph.
Surrounding the statue and the base building are model temples of 108 divyadesams – 108 Vishnu and Lakshmi temples mentioned in the works of Alvars, the poet-saints of Sri Vaishnava tradition. The real temples are located all over India and one in Nepal. Again no photography was allowed, but this panoramic shot should give you an idea of the temples around the statue.
I missed the sunset by a few minutes. If you want to see the statue you should go an hour before the sunset so you can see the day view and see the sunset and also the night view. This is simply gorgeous, peaceful and totally majestic.
And here we are with the statue in the background – me and my parents.
Galavant Reflections 