You can ask any traveler to name a few countries you must visit in your lifetime, and most of them will name India as the country everybody has to experience – from extraordinary cuisine to mind-blowing history, culture and sacred temples, India is definitely written in many bucket lists. Now, there are even more reasons to visit this magical country, and one of them is the mind-blowing statue of an eagle that brings an old myth back to life created by a famous filmmaker Rajiv Anchal.
After 10 years of hard work, Indian artist Rajiv Anchal has opened his unique landmark to the public
Located near Kerala, Jatayu Earth Centre became one of the best places to visit while traveling around India.
The sculpture is a dedication to the Hindu epic Ramayana
The Ramayana epic, written in Sanskrit, tells a story about a giant eagle of the Ramayana who fell while fighting against Ravana, to save a Hindu goddess Sita. The residents of Chadayamangalam village in Kollam district, Kerala, had known the story for many years, now it has been brought back to life in the best way possible.
This is currently the biggest sculpture of a bird in the world
If you ever visit the place, it’s not only the sculpture that is interesting in the area, there is also plenty of other interesting activities for the tourists, such as rock climbing, rappelling, paintball, and rifle shooting. There is also an Ayurvedic resort nearby as well as a museum.
When we say that is the biggest sculpture of a bird in the world, we do really mean it since the sculpture itself stretches 200ft from tail to head and is also build on top of the 1,000ft-high Jatayupara towers.
The author of the sculpture, filmmaker Rajiv Anchal, says he had the idea for longer than 10 years.“I had presented a model for this sculpture to the Department of Tourism during my Fine Arts College days in the 1980s. Although they were impressed, it didn’t take shape back then.”
The author of the sculpture also says how important it is to not turn the monument from a cultural one into a religious one. According to him “Jatayu died protecting a woman’s honor and that is what the sculpture stands for. People of all faiths have invested in the project and people of all faiths will be coming to see it. My work is for all of them. For those looking for religion, there is the old temple just outside the compound.”
