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Sri Madwacharya’s monolithic statue gets consecrated

Udupi: A 32 ft tall monolithic marble statue of the great Saint and Dwaitha philosopher of 13th century Sri Madhwacharya had a “pratishtapana mahotsav” (consecration) on the hills of Kunjarugiri near Pajaka Kshetra here on Monday.

The monolithic statue has been consecrated to mark the 700th ‘Avatara Samapti’ of Sri Madhwacharya.

Kunjargiri is about 11 km from Udupi. According to sources, Kunjarugiri is the birthplace of Sri Madhwacharya.

The statue has been carved at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore and weighs over 110 tonnes. The land for the installation of the statue was offered by the Adamar Math. In August 2013, a stone of 180-tonne grey granite monolith rock was brought here from a quarry at Koira in Devanahalli village near Bengaluru. A team of over 50 sculptors under their chief sculptor, National Award Winner Ashok Gudigar, began the work of sculpting the statue.

The installation work took a few days under the guidance of delegates from Larson and Turbo and was completed on Tuesday, March 28. The statue was sculpted as per the rules laid down in the ‘Tantrasara’ text written by Sri Madhwacharya which denotes 32 styles. The Place would be an avenue for music concerts and religious activities and the statue will be surrounded by a beautiful garden.

The pratishtapana mahotsav included the pratishta homa, pratishta kalasa, tatva homa, tatva kalasha, Narayana mantra homa, Varaha homa, Vishnu Gayatri homa, and bimba pratishte. The rituals started at 5 a.m. The pratishtapana kalashabhisheka was held at 9.06 a.m. followed by “maha mangalarti.”

The statue was smeared with 20 litres of milk, panchamrit- tender coconut water, honey, ghee, and gangodaka by Vidyadeesha Tirtha and other seers. They stood on a wooden structure which was created behind the statue to perform the abhisheka and other rituals.

A small idol of Sri Madhwacharya was installed at the feet of the statue to perform daily pujas.

The rituals were conducted by the chief priest Rajagopal Upadhyaya.

Mantralaya Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt seer Subudhendratheertha Swami, Adamar Mutt seer Vishwapriyatheertha Swami, Ishapriyatheertha Swami, Mulabagilu Sripadaraja Mutt seer Keshavanidhitheertha Swami, Hanasoge Madhwamutt Vishwanandanatheertha Swami and Bannanje Raghavendratheertha Swami witnessed the occasion, in the presence of hundreds of devotees.

The Brahmakalashotsava of the statue will be held on Wednesday.