JOHANNESBURG, Jan 5 : A 42-feet bronze statue of Nilkanth Varni, the 18th-century yogi and spiritual luminary, was installed at the BAPS temple complex in South Africa’s Johannesburg.
The statue, installed on Sunday at the largest Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) temple in the southern hemisphere, is the tallest bronze statue in South Africa.
It also ranks as the joint fourth-highest statue on the African continent, together with the Moremi Statue of Liberty in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
Posing in a variation of the Yogic posture known as Vrikshasana, the statue rises at the entrance of the massive complex and is intended to be a highly visible public symbol of discipline, youthful idealism, and inner balance, BAPS said.
“More than a religious installation, the Nilkanth Varni murti (sacred image) represents values of self-discipline, perseverance, clarity of purpose, and service to society,” BAPS media spokesperson Hemang Desai said.
Cast primarily in copper and brass and weighing approximately 20 tonnes, the sacred image is uniquely poised on a single leg, described by local experts as an extraordinary feat of engineering.
On Sunday evening, Swayamprakash Swami, one of the most senior monks in the BAPS Swaminarayan order, led the official handover ceremony to South Africa in the presence of South African Deputy Minister of Finance Ashor Sarupen, after which a 60-man Indo-African orchestra entertained the hundreds of guests who attended.
Shri Nilkanth Varni represents the teenage pilgrimage of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, who at the age of 11 embarked on a seven-year journey covering over 12,000 kilometres across the Indian subcontinent.
Living with minimal possessions, he dedicated himself to learning, dialogue, physical discipline, and service to others.
“With the BAPS vegetarian restaurant, Shayona, located adjacent to it, the Mandir complex increasingly serves as a welcoming public space for families, visitors, and the wider community. It is also sure to add to the tourist route within the greater Johannesburg region,” he said. (PTI)
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