Hinduising the landscape

On Monday June 9, 2003, Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda consecrated the 85-foot-tall Sri Karya Siddhi Hanuman at the Dattatreya Yoga Centre and Mandir Orange Field Road, Carapichaima, Trinidad and Tobago.

The mega-Hanuman, standing tall in the central skies — the only one of its size outside India — was consecrated by Swamiji in the presence of thousands of local and foreign devotees. The statue was funded by local and foreign well-wishers and not the government as some suggests. Indeed the SDMS contributed $50,000 at an early stage of the fund-raising efforts. Many other Hindu organisations and individual Hindus joined in the fund-raising efforts of the Dattatreya Yoga Centre. The construction of this Hindu and Indian monument ushers in a new era in the Indian civilisational presence in Trinidad. The unveiling of the Hanuman Murti unnerved many non-Indians and non-Hindus as they are faced with an imposing and towering symbol perceived to be pagan. This affront to the Abrahamic based faiths provoked emotive reactions including calls to tear down the statue. On Power 102 FM a morning talk show host virtually embarked on an electronic crusade against the Hanuman Murti. Perhaps the first Hindu monument was the Swami Vivekananda at the Divali Nagar site. This effigy was originally built to last a year but managed to survive for over ten years. This towering statue of one of the great Hindu teachers formed part of the skyline. Decay of the materials used for the Swami Vivekananda will no doubt soon force the management to eventually remove the huge statue.

The building of monuments has been long associated with the development of civilisation as it links some of the key components of civilisation such as culture, art, technology and often religion. A monument can be described as something set up to keep alive the memory of an idea, a people, an event, a person as a tablet, statue, pillar, building, etc and it is often something that is significant. Monuments inspire collective memory and serve to forge national identity by commemorating those individuals, events, and ideals, which reflect the national creed.  Public monuments deal with time. They can be seen as attempts by individuals, groups or nations to project interpretations of past time into the future. Time plays a part both in the ideas behind the construction of monuments, and in their reception. The term “monument” is derived from the latin word “monere,” which can be read as “to remind” and also “to teach” or even “to admonish.” Indeed no other group in the nation has embarked in the building of monuments to date.

Secretary General, Sri Satnaryan Maharaj, declared at the Plum Mitan SDMS Mandir recently as well as on several radio talk shows, that the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha would be re-directing its efforts in the coming year towards the construction of Hindu monuments in Trinidad. Hinduising the landscape and indelibly stamping the Hindu and Indian civilisational presence in Trinidad. The first of these monuments, revealed Maharaj, will be a Lord Ganesh Murti that will be located on the Churchill Roosevelt Highway opposite the St Augustine Girls’ High School. The 25 acres of land opposite SAGHS was bought on behalf of the Hindu community by SDMS founder, Bhadase Sagan Maraj, in the 1950s. Since then the SDMS has been planning to construct a Hindu complex that will make the Hindu population and the nation proud. The SDMS has established a committee to oversee this particular project. The committee is being chaired by Mr Raj Jadoo, President of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (Trinidad Chapter). Mr Jadoo told the attentive audience that the Lord Ganesh Murti is planned to be sky-scraping 108 feet high. Jadoo also revealed that this Maha Sabha project will be assisted by the VHP of India. Already schematics and technical drawings for the Murti are on their way to Trinidad. Jadoo revealed that soon an account in all the major banks will be opened to assist the SDMS fund-raising efforts to see this project materialise.

Lord Ganesha has an elephantine countenance with a curved trunk and big ears and a huge pot-bellied body of a human being. He is the Lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles. He is also worshipped as the god of education, knowledge, wisdom and wealth. In his upper right hand Ganesha holds a goad, which helps him propel mankind forward on the eternal path and remove obstacles from the way. The noose in Ganesha’s left hand is a gentle implement to capture all difficulties. The broken tusk that Ganesha holds like a pen in his lower right hand is a symbol of sacrifice, which he broke for writing the Mahabharata. The rosary in his other hand suggests that the pursuit of knowledge should be continuous. The snake that runs round his waist represents energy in all forms. When the masses pass the soaring Ganesha along the highway it will be these ideas and concepts that it is hoped will be evoked.

Outside India symbols of Lord Ganesha can be found. Just like in Cambodia, Vietnam and some other Southeast Asian countries, Hinduism was a big part of the beliefs of Indonesians. Remnants of more than 300-year (some are more than 1000 years) old temples have been found and excavated in Indonesia. There were located prominent Ganesh statues. Most of them are still intact and preserved in museums and some are still on their places where they were placed more than one hundred decades ago. There are at least more than 15 spots all over Indonesia where Ganesh statues were found. In India, Ganesh has many names like Ganapati, Vighnesvara, Gajanana, Gajadhipati, Lambkarn, Lambodar and Ekadant, while in Indonesian language it is named “Gajah” which is most probably derived from Sanskrit word “Gaja” or elephant. One of the Indonesian currency notes carries the picture of Ganesh. The currency symbol (“Rp” India = “Rs”) and its pronunciation (“Rupiah” — “Rupe”) are actually almost similar to India’s.