OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Controversy over a Ten Commandments monument on grounds of the Oklahoma State Capitol took a surprising twist when Satanists sought to place a statue of their own alongside it.
Then a few days later, a Hindu organization said it would apply for permission to erect a statue of Hanuman.
The two groups suggested that Oklahoma legislators opened the door to such displays when they pushed through a bill in 2009 giving permission for a Ten Commandments monument to be placed on the Capitol grounds. The monument, paid for with private funds, was placed there in 2012.
According to media reports, the New York-based Satanic Temple has notified the state’s Capitol Preservation Commission that it wants to donate a monument on the Capitol grounds “as an homage to the historic/literary Satan.” Possible designs include a pentagram — a satanic symbol — and an interactive display for children.
Rajan Zed, a board member for the Universal Society of Hinduism, announced Dec. 10 the group’s intention to seek permission to erect a statue. He said the design would follow.
Hanuman, the monkey king, is an important deity in Hinduism, the world’s third largest faith. He is most popular among devotees of the avatar Lord Ram and others following a devotional path. There are more temples and roadside shrines to Hanuman than to any other deity in all of North India.
For Hindus, Hanuman is one of the finest exemplars of a life of love and service of God.
Trait Thompson, chairman of the Oklahoma Capitol Preservation Commission, which approves all monuments, declined to comment, saying only that a good-faith application would be voted on by the commission.
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