We love big things in Texas, and statues are no different — whether it’s the giant statue of Sam Houston in Huntsville or the 55-foot state fair mainstay, Big Tex.
Now we’ve got a new colossus to add to the mix: Houston Public Media reported that a 90-foot, 90-ton statue of the Hindu deity Hanuman was dedicated last month at the Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple in Sugar Land, outside of Houston.
According to the World Atlas, the Hanuman statue, known as the Statue of Union, comes in third among big U.S. statues, behind the Statue of Liberty (151 feet) and the statue of Pegasus and Dragon in Florida (110 feet).
“Hanuman is a symbol of uniting communities, uniting people behind a goal,” Vijay Sreenarasimhaiah, the temple’s vice president, told Houston Public Media. “He’s an example of a good spiritual leader because he brings people together.”
The Hindu community in Sugar Land Hindu celebrated the arrival of the god of wisdom, strength, and courage, the Houston Chronicle reported. But of course, because that sounds too nice for our strange state, a few dozen members of a local church also showed up to protest the statue and to proselytize. (The Awakening Gen Church’s leader, Rev. Greg Gervais, called the statue a “demon god” in a Facebook video.)
“I told them, ‘Our teachings say that worship your own, but respect all. I respect your God and you and I expect you to respect us,’” Ranganath Kandala, joint secretary of the Ashtalakshmi Temple, told the Chronicle. The group eventually left after temple leaders threatened to call police.
It’s a cool statue — and we’re sorry to report that some Texans still aren’t familiar with the concept of freedom of religion!
