A 6.4-metre tall marble statue of Lord Shiva imported from China that was erected in the backyard of Dr Ravin Chandra’s house in Papakura has received a lot of media attention in the past few days after an argument broke out between the owner and his neighbour, on one hand. On the other , people have been travelling from places to view and praise the magnificent work of art.
“It was my childhood wish to put a big idol of Lord Shiva in my premises, and I have just fulfilled my wish. The place is open for public to come and pray,” said Dr Ravin.
Owner of 6 dental centres in Auckland, Dr Ravin ordered the statue from China last year. He had taken all prior permissions from the Auckland council before installing the idol that arrived earlier last month.
Dr Ravin, who is a devotee of Lord Shiva, exclaims, “Why do we always keep idols of Gods trapped inside a temple? Why can’t we see idols placed under open skies? There are so many huge idols of Lord Shiva, Lord Hanuman and Lord Ram placed in India, Singapore and in many places around the world.”
“It took almost a week to put the 30 tonne idol in the place using cranes,”said Dr Ravin.
More than 200 people from the community showed up at the inauguration ceremony of the deity last week, and more from all communities have been visiting too see the idol.
“We never wanted the media to cover this, but as it is said, by His grace now,the whole of Auckland knows that there is a huge idol of Lord Shiva in an open space and everyone is welcome to come and pray,” concluded Dr Ravin. The news of the idol has reached as far out as the shores of US.
Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, from Nevada stressed that Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion followers and a rich philosophical thought, deserved the same protections accorded in New Zealand constitution to all the faiths.
Zed noted that if a devout Hindu property owner and his family; who reportedly sought the required Auckland Council approval and geo-technical inspections before mounting Lord Shiva statue on solid concrete foundation on his Clevedon property backyard; wanted to pray before a Council approved 6.4 meters-high 30-tonne marble statue, it should be perfectly okay.
The idol is placed at Creightons Road, Clevedon in Papakura and we hope that the idol is here to stay.