Sri Chinmoy Giant Statue controversy is a controversy that surrounds the building of a huge statue of Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, aka Sri Chinmoy. Background The first project was a Project to erect a 14 meters high bronze statue in Iceland, in Mógilsá, then in Esjuberg. The same statue was planned to be erected in the woodland valley NY - US , in the town of shandaken. Opposition Iceland Projects in Iceland were rejected by the Reykjavik Environment and Planning Council in 2013 and 2014. Shandaken - US The project in Shandaken was rejected by the Shandaken Zoning Board of Appeals in late 2019. Sanjay Rawal during the public hearings stated that this 40 foot high statue of Chinmoy was for his personal usage . Rawal had already bought a property located at 822 Woodland Valley Rd, Shandaken and incorporated a Foundation , Illumine Service Foundation, with 2 other members at its board.