Fwd: Tallest statue of Lord Subramaniya unveiled

[Guest guest]

Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest Lord Murugan statue in the

world. Hundreds of balloons floated into the air and a shower of

flowers fell from a hovering helicopter as Works Minister Datuk Seri S.

Samy Vellu officially launched the opening ceremony about 6.15 pm on Jan

29, 2006. (Embedded image moved to file: pic17713.jpg)

(Embedded image moved to file: pic18958.jpg) A crane

lifting the giant chrysanthemum garland to put over the statue of Lord

Murugan at the Sri Subramaniar Temple in Batu Caves. As darkness fell,

a spectacular 20-minute display of fireworks lit

the RM2.5mil statue made of 1,550 cubic metres of concrete, 250

tonnes of steel bars and 300 litres of gold paint brought in from

Thailand. Fifteen Indian sculptors had worked on the project for three

years. A cultural performance by local artistes and singers from

India

continued till midnight. Yesterday morning, just as many people turned up

again at the temple to witness a giant garland being placed on the

statue - two weeks before Thaipusam. The RM15,000 flower garland,

which was 43m long and weighed about a tonne, was made of

chrysanthemums which will last less than a week under the hot sun. "A

total of five days without sleep and 18 men was what it took to prepare

this enormous garland," said Sri Kertanas Floral manager, Mahendran

Shanti. "One hundred and fifty people had to carry the garland to the

temple. "We needed another 20 men to help lift it to the crane so it

wouldn't

Roman" size="3"> sway and hit visitors," said Mahendran, who was among

those who had carried the hefty garland. It was a complex

operation and it took about an hour to hook the garland to the crane

and for the crane to place the garland on the statue. "But all the

hard work was

worth it as we had hoped to have the statue as well as the garland

ready before Thaipusam," said Mahendran's wife, Shanti. V.

Malarvanan, who had sponsored the garland, said the flowers were brought

in from Cameron Highlands. "Although I wasn't involved in the making of

the garland, I was there

New Roman" size="2"> the whole five days, to give them a little support so

they wouldn't get side-tracked," he joked. "I also hope that this

giant garland will make it into the Malaysia Book of Records, following

the successful entry of the statue into the archives," he said. pavan

dorisainews (AT) (DOT) es

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