A massive stone block weighing around 320 tons and transported in a special trailer vehicle with multiple wheels, crossed Tamil Nadu and entered Attibelle in neighbouring Karnataka via Hosur of Krishnagiri, on Wednesday.
The idol of Maha Vishnu, planned to a height of 64 feet, was the dream of Sadananda, a retired doctor and trustee of the Kothandarama Swami temple in Ejipura, Karnataka. Loading the stone on a special vehicle transporting the semi-carved idol was done on December 2018 from the quarry site at Korakottai village near Vandavasi in Thiruvanamalai district. It took almost six months for the stone laden truck to cover a distance of around 220 kilometers from the quarry to reach Attibelle near Hosur of Krishnagiri, on the Karnataka side.
The massive stone block came across many hurdles including a court case challenging the transportation of the stone from Tamil Nadu to another state. Other issues were the difficulty in getting permission from NHAI, which denied permission for the truck to cross two overbridges built across the south Pennar and Markandeya rivers that pass through the Chennai - Bengaluru national highway in Krishnagiri.
The idol crossed the place after the transporter planned an alternative road across the rivers to avoid using the concrete bridges of the NHAI.
