Toronto: Thousands of devotees, including federal cabinet ministers and the leader of the opposition in the House of Commons, joined in as a 51-foot statue of Lord Ram — the tallest of its kind in North America — was unveiled at the Hindu Heritage Centre in Mississauga, Ontario.
The fibreglass idol, constructed in Delhi and assembled by skilled artisans in Canada, was unveiled on August 3 at an inauguration ceremony that drew a crowd of over 10,000 people
Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu greeted the gathering with a “Jai Shri Ram” and said the erection of the largest statue of Ram in North America was “something to be very proud of”.
Also present were the Minister of Women and Gender Equality, Rechie Valdez, President of the Treasury Board, Shafqat Ali, and the interim leader of the opposition Conservative Party in the House of Commons, Andrew Scheer. The Indian government was represented by Acting Consul General in Toronto Kapidhwaja Pratap Singh.
As per a Hindustan Times report, bringing the statue to the temple fulfilled a project that commenced four years ago, and was made possible with a donation from Indo-Canadian business leader Laj Prasher.
The centre’s founder and head priest, Acharya Surinder Sharma Shastri, said that the idol is expected to last a century and resist winds of up to 200 km/hr. He said that they drew inspiration from the inauguration of the temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, in January 2024.
