Sri Chinmoy - Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member Metro2
N 23° 12.137 W 106° 25.799
13Q E 353661 N 2566632
Sri Chinmoy was a Bengali American poet, musician, artist, spiritual leader and athlete.
Waymark Code: WMFJ3A
Location: Sinaloa, Mexico
Date Posted: 10/24/2012
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member Marine Biologist
Views: 6

Wikipedia (visit link) informs us that Chinmoy Sri Chinmoy began writing poetry at an early age, with his early efforts written in his native Bengali tongue. However, Sri Chinmoy learnt English metre and rhyme and most of his poems have since been written in English. His first English poem was written in 1955 and was entitled “The Golden Flute”. In later years, Sri Chinmoy increasingly wrote short poems of a few lines. In total, it is claimed Sri Chinmoy wrote over 120,000 poems though many of these poems are actually short aphorisms. In 2001, Sri Chinmoy was invited to recite his poetry at the United Nations as part of a UN sponsored event of promoting Dialogue Among Civilizations Through Poetry. On September 11, 2010, three of Sri Chinmoy's poems on hope were recited by New York Governor David Paterson at a ceremony to mark the ninth anniversary of 9/11.

Sri Chinmoy's inspirational writing has been praised by many, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who wrote: "These sweet gems of wisdom written by my dear friend Sri Chinmoy are timeless truths full of encouragement, love and goodness...These chapters fill us with indomitable hope and enthusiasm for life."


This bronze lifesized sculpture of Sri Chinmoy depicts him standing, and holding with both hands a lit candle on an extended candleholder.
It is set on a stylized marble and cement plinth about 5 feet high. There is no longer a plaque at the site, but a web search revealed this plaque at the time of the work's unveiling (visit link)

And this photo shows that the original plinth was also different (visit link)
This website (visit link) informs us:

" life-sized bronze statue of World Harmony Run founder Sri Chinmoy (1931-2007) depicted holding a World Harmony Run torch was inaugurated in a colourful ceremony on the evening of November 26, 2009 in Mazatlan, Mexico. The statue is on the edge of the Pacific Ocean ringed by palm trees located adjacent to a busy coastal plaza featuring other statues and lookouts over the ocean. Eventually its environs will be further landscaped with benches and additional information about the late spiritual leader’s contributions in various fields. Other statues by the same sculptor, British artist Kaivalya Torpy, are located in Norway, Bali and the Czech Republic. The statue unveiled in Mazatlan is the first in the Americas and the first ever of the spiritual leader holding a torch.

The Mayor was in attendance to unveil the statue and he was presented with the Harmony Run Torch Bearer Award during the ceremony. Students of Sri Chinmoy representing various countries attended the event. The Mazatlan Fire Department band and gymnastics team performed a stirring drum and trumpet performance and ascended heavenward with gravity defying human pyramid formations. The World Harmony Run torch was held aloft from atop one such human pyramids. Related activities continued the following day with visits by the World Harmony Run to three elementary schools culminating in the school children running the torch to the foot of the statue where they were greeted by the Secretary of the Mayor. A World Harmony Run ceremony including school children also visited a large Mazatlan shopping mall where Sri Chinmoy’s Jharna-Kala artwork was on exhibit inside the mall. The local daily newspaper Noroeste featured an article about the statue dedication on November 28th and a second article about the World Harmony Run festivities on the sports page in the same day’s paper."

Wikipedia (visit link) adds:

"Chinmoy Kumar Ghose (August 27, 1931 – October 11, 2007), also known as Sri Chinmoy, was a Bengali and American spiritual teacher, poet, artist and athlete.[2] He was the founder of the religious organization "Sri Chinmoy Centre Church, Inc." better known as "Sri Chinmoy Centre". According to his followers, Sri Chinmoy wrote 1,500 books, 115,000 poems and 20,000 songs, created 200,000 paintings and gave almost 800 free peace concerts in notable venues around the world.[3][4] As a spiritual Master, he advocated meditation, chanting mantras and prayers, performing dedicated service to God as a way to personal enlightenment, or God-realisation as described by Eastern religions, including Sri Aurobindo's spiritual teaching."
Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

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Metro2 visited Sri Chinmoy - Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico 10/15/2012 Metro2 visited it