Till death do us part. A man in India, however, has not “parted” with his late wife as he continues to express his love for his wife who died of Covid-19, but not in the way someone usually does.
Tapas Sandilya, a retired central government employee spent Rs 2.5 lakh (approximately RM132,000) to build a silicone statue that resembles his wife, and we gotta say, the resemblance is uncanny! The lifelike silicone statue of his late wife Indrani is placed on her favorite spot of the sofa in their home in Kolkata.
Despite the amount of attention that has been drawn from the statue, Tapas’s expression of love is not done for that purpose. In fact, he was merely fulfilling Indrani’s wish, as reported by the Times of India.
Indrani had spoken about her wish as early as 10 years ago when the couple visited the Iskcon temple in Mayapur. At the temple, they saw the lifelike statue of the order’s founder, AC Bhaktivedanta Swami and couldn’t stop admiring it.
“Indrani told me about her desire for a similar statue, if she happens to pass away before me,” Tapas said.
Indrani’s silicone statue weighs about 30 kg, and it’s “dressed” in a silk Sari from Assam. Tapas also put on the gold pieces of jewelry on the statue, which were Indrani’s favorite. It was also not easy to replicate Indrani as Tapas said the grafting of the hair alone took about a month to complete. He asked for some grey streaks on the hair from the sculptor of the statue to make it more realistic.
Simply put, Tapas wanted the statue to be perfect.
Is everyone a fan of the statue? Initially, it wasn’t.
Tapas’s own family was not fond of the idea of making a statue of Indrani at first but eventually, with the help of Tapas’s neighbors, his family gave in. The family man certainly has his own ways to keep his love alive and build more memories.
“If we can keep framed photographs at home after someone’s death, why not a statue?”
Despite the uncanny resemblance of the statue, Tapas admitted that it will never eliminate the pain of his loss, and it’s not made better whenever he’s reminded about Indrani’s final days.
“I was in isolation while Indrani was at the hospital. I will never forget that, but the statue gives me the feeling that she’s always with me,” Tapas said.
Emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in 1653 to house the tomb of his wife, Mumtaj Mahal, and Tapas built a lifelike silicon statue of Indrani to fulfill her wish. Everyone has their own ways to express their love, and how do you think you’ll honor your loved ones in the future?
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