Tirupati: The 24-foot tall monolithic Hanuman statue is all set to be consecrated at Angallu near Madanapalle.

The mammoth project costing Rs.6 crore emerged from the unflinching determination and devotion of a common man Kosuri Viswanatham. His grandfather K. Rajaratnam Pillai and father K. Paramasivam worked in the construction wing of the nearby Rishi Valley School, while Viswanatham is a motor pumps dealer. The thought of installing a Hanuman statue struck him a decade ago, and this spurred him to purchase an acre of land abutting the Anantapur highway.

Thanks to the realty boom then, he sold a portion of it and used the proceeds to launch the holy task. “I quit smoking, drinking and eating non-vegetarian food ten years ago. I don’t add salt even today,” Mr. Viswanatham told the media.

The project started in June 2005 and it took almost a year to get the huge rock weighing 130 tonnes from the 300 ft-hillock near Chinna Thippa Samudram.

After rough sculpting, its weight came down to 80 tonnes, after chiselling to arrive at the finer contours, brought its final weight to 60 tonnes. The status is 24 ft tall and 8 ft wide.

The lotus ‘Peetam’ measures 5 feet, the pedestal another 5 feet and the concrete sub-surface beam 11 feet. That the statue did not yield a single crack surprised many a sculptor. It was carefully brought to Angallu on a low-bed trailer and installed with the help of two high-capacity cranes on May 29.

‘Panchamukhi Tantram’

Ramani Iyer, a senior priest from Kumbakonam got a golden ‘Panchamukhi Tantram’ installed under the statue’s feet.

‘Ashtabandhanam’, an auspicious ritual will be performed on June 27 using a lac-like binding material brought from Mayavaram (Tamil Nadu) to fill the gaps in the statue, to prevent insects from making a home in the crevices. On this occasion, devotees from Bhadrachalam, led by a septuagenarian Venkataswamy, will chant ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ one lakh times.

Temple construction

An L&T estimate put the cost of constructing a temple at Rs.18 crore and Viswanatham is worried over mobilizing fund, having already incurred Rs.6 crore.

Philanthropists interested to donate can contact him at 94406 50038.