Last weekend, a 90-foot-tall statue of Hanuman was dedicated at the Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple in Sugar Land, Texas. Officially called the Statue of Union, the statue is the third-tallest statue in North America and the tallest statue in Texas.

The statue was inaugurated by Chinna Jeeyaar Swami, an Indian spiritual leader who

saw the statue as a symbol of unity and strength. He was also the initiator of the Statue of Equality in Hyderabad, a 216-foot-tall statue which is the second tallest seated statue in the world.

The unveiling of the Hanuman statue on August 18 was the culmination of the three-day consecration ceremony that included several rituals. The statue was decorated with a 27-metre-long garland while a helicopter rained flowers on it while devotees sang auspicious tunes and chants. The celebrations concluded with an electronic show that narrated the story of how Hanuman was considered a symbol of the union of Ram and Sita in the Ramayana.

Indian Consul General in Houston DC Manjunath, Mayor of Stafford Ken Mathew and Fort Bend County Judge KP George were present at the inauguration on August 18, as were Marquette Greene-Scott, candidate for US Congress from Texas; Charlene station Johnson, candidate for Texas House of Representatives; Fort Bend County Commissioner Andy Meyers, District 3; and Fort Bend County Treasurer Bill Rickert, to name a few.

The statue drew mixed reactions on social media. While many welcomed the new addition to the temple, some conservatives expressed their displeasure, with some claiming the figure was “demonic.” The right-wing “humor-based news” website Not the Bee published an article about the statue that included a warning against “inciting the wrath of the one true God by erecting giant demonic idols everywhere.”