Waharoa. Taupo. New Zealand.
S 38° 41.194 E 176° 04.175
60H E 419078 N 5717593
Taupo's newest sculpture, a Waharoa, or spiritual entrance, was blessed and unveiled in a ceremony at the entrance to Taupo's War Memorial Cenotaph.
Waymark Code: WM7TKR
Location: North Island, New Zealand
Date Posted: 12/01/2009
Views: 9
Designed by local master carver Delani Brown, the wooden carving took more than 2000 man-hours to carve. It tells the story of the arrival of geothermal energy to the region and was gifted by Contact Energy to Taupo to mark 50 years of geothermal energy extraction at Wairakei power station.
The carving is wooden, and has been painted in traditional Maori colours. The carver, Mr Brown, worked closely with kaumatua (tribal elders) to receive the stories and knowledge supporting the story illustrated in the carving which was blessed by Te Kanawa Pitiroi of Ngati Tuwharetoa.
The sculpture includes three red and black painted wooden carvings, each weighing one tonne and measuring between three and 4 1/2 metres long, attached to a large arch-shaped structure made from recycled steel pipe used in the geothermal steam fields.
The carvings were made from 2000-year-old totara trees felled 70 years ago in Pureora Forest, west of Taupo. They symbolised the mountains Tongariro, Tauhara and Putauaki, which formed the physical boundaries of the iwi between Tongariro, Taupo and Kawerau.
The three peaks were significant symbols used in Ngati Tuwharetoa mythology to show the relationship between the iwi and the mountains.