Victor's Way-County Wicklow, Ireland

This Indian sculpture park contains many beautifully carved sculptures of Indian deities and has been looked after by Victor for the last few years. While the main Ganesh sculptures took roughly nine years, I have discovered more sculptures in the more recent years. Sketched out in Roundwood in Ireland, the sculptures were then modelled in Tamil Nadu, India by D.V. Murugan. (http://www.victoriasway.eu/ganeshexh.htm) As a young child, I was completely fascinated by the sheer height of the sculptures and while I am now a fair amount taller, I am still struck by a pleasant silence as I gaze at the shiny black granite Ganesh statues. The smooth surfaces of each sculpture encouraged me to feel the warmth of the sculptures and to extract the amount of energy coming from each of them.  There was, and still is (as far as I can remember), a hose which you can use to hose down the sculptures with...or is that only some of them? I can’t remember exactly but it’s great fun when you’re young and if you have a carefree spirit, when you’re older. There’s a huge statue of a snake which, according to the description near the sculpture is a 'Spiritual Wisdom Seat'.

 Side view of some of the black granite Ganesh sculptures.

Explanation of 'Spiritual Wisdom Seat'

'Birth' or 'Moment of Awakening'

There is an opening to the forest which leads you down a long winding path; this also leads you around many more sculptures which you can find nestled away among the trees. There are also some crevices where statues hide away, shy of being viewed without being really thought of and when you walk around the different statues, the different signs which one spots compliment the possibly deep thoughts and serenity that are within.  

 

An example of some of the signs that can be seen dotted around the forest and sculpture park in general. 

Whenever I walk around the forest, I can feel the extremely peaceful atmosphere offered by the entire sculpture park. Even though I’m surrounded by family, I find it easy to go off into my own world and to think about the world around us and the powers it possesses as a planet. There is also a sense of a higher power and in my mind, it is the spirits of those who have passed and those who watch over me that I feel are walking with me. And yet, this entire park still looks man-made to me. Beautifully done, I see that the path guiding me around all the sculptures is clear and well walked and yet every step that I take along the path, something new waits. The last time I was at the sculpture park, there were new sections where more sculptures were being installed. Although surrounded by nature’s best creations and beautiful sculptures, there were the odd sculptures which intimidated and scared me (more about that later). I sincerely doubt that this is intentional but my interpretation of the emotions I felt when looking upon certain sculptures told me that it was likely I felt this way because I did not fully understand the profound meanings behind these sculptures. ‘Birth’ or otherwise known as ‘The moment of awakening’ is one of the sculptures which evoked the latter emotions and although I read the description, it shook something within me that made me look harder at the sculpture and what it meant to me instead of simply reading the words which explained what the artist meant. 

One spot in the woods where a new statue is in the middle of being put together.

There was no explanation or hint as to what this statue would become but I was definitely delighted to see a statue in the process of being assembled and mounted. For me, it's almost always as if the statues have magically appeared after months (and sometimes years) of not visiting the sculpture walk. 

At the mouth of one of the smaller crevices, there stood this statue whose grace and quiet amazed me. I say this like the statue is alive but that is what all of the statues feel like. And in some cases, I suppose this is why sometimes, the statues can scare or intimidate me. Above, there are three examples of these statues which, particularly in the past, have had the effect of me walking past them as quickly as possible. While the statues can look rater morbid in such a lovely, bright and peaceful setting, they often tell stories or contain meanings which are less morbid. In all honesty, I have yet to stand in front of these statues and actually look at what they mean but then again, that is also down to time. 

In the middle of the walk, there is an opening with a very big pond which, over time, I'm assuming, has split into two parts with the duck weed and other wild plants growing. In the middle of the biggest part of the water, there sits a statue of Shiva. Set among the water like royalty, the statue twinkles as the sun casts rays over it and as I gazed at the statue, a deeper sense of peace and serenity. It's almost as if one is looking upon Shiva Himself. It was hard to keep moving and walk on as part of me really wanted to sit down with the sun in my face and think about all the signs I'd seen as I was walking. I wanted to spend the whole afternoon there and only walk on when I was ready but even without all the time in the world, it's hard not to appreciate the peacefulness and serenity felt at this particular spot. 

'Shiva' sitting in the middle of the water. 

As the walk comes to a finish, there is another clearing in the trees where there stands a very tall digit. It's a little odd at first and I wondered if there was "a point" to it and there is, of course, but you have to walk a little closer. There are two inscriptions on the statue, one on the front and one on the back. It's called 'The Finger' and it points toward the sky as if to say that all that we do, has already been decided by a higher power. Maybe I'm looking too deeply into this but it feels like the "done thing" in my life at the moment. 

 Explanation for 'The Finger'

Looking at this got me thinking about destiny and how much of our lives is governed by destiny...I'm rather rusty on the subject so I'm not going to delve into that now. Personally, I feel it is my destiny to create and to leave a trail of my creations as my legacy behind when I die. Enough said really on that!

Now, just before you get to the big white house, there is a statue of a man who is fasting and who, clearly, has been fasting for some time. As a child, I was rather afraid of this statue. Afraid that he would come to life and reach out for me, afraid that he was terribly unhappy and needed other people's souls in order to even exist. Now, as a supposed adult, I can't say I'm keen on the statue still! I know it sounds ridiculous and that there is probably a very deep and soulful explanation for this statue but as far as I'm concerned, I just walk past it as quickly as I can in order to get to the big white house where Victor has set out one room with photos of his travels to India where the statues are made and then there is a second room with small statues, incense, jewelry and little boxes. It is the end of the visit and most likely the day as it takes a while to get to and from Victor's Way from the Dublin City center. I have had some of the best days out in this place and often feel incredibly happy and peaceful, there's no way I'd leave this off my list of favourite places!