Michael Jackson - Jackson Statue Wows Fans At Stone Fair

A 12-foot granite statue of MICHAEL JACKSON will be winging its way to the King of Pop's former Neverland Ranch home in California if Indian fans have their way.

The black granite likeness was painstakingly carved from one rock and has become the star attraction at Stona 2010, the ninth international stonemasonry fair in Bengaluru, India.

And the creators of the impressive sculpture - a Chennai-based granite firm - have written to the Jackson family and offered to cover the freight charges to ship the statue to Santa Barbara.

The piece reportedly took six craftsmen 45 days to make.

Indo-American statesman Rajan Zed, who is involved in the attempt to put the statue on permanent display at Neverland Ranch, tells WENN, "Black granite is generally brittle and it was a real challenge to chisel it into shape, especially the eyes and face.

"It should be of no surprise that this piece was crafted in India because Michael Jackson had a very special place with India and Hinduism. Michael reportedly learned how to meditate and he was vegetarian.

"According to reports, he was reading India's first Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore's poems during the last days of his life."