Victor's Way

Victor's Way (previously Victoria's Way), located near Roundwood, County Wicklow, Ireland, is a privately owned meditation garden which contains black granite sculptures.^[1] The 9-hectare property includes a number of small lakes and forested areas.

Victor's Way
Ganesha statue in Victor's Way, with Sugar Loaf mountain in background.
Type	Sculpture and philosophy park[1]
Location	near Roundwood, County Wicklow, Ireland
Coordinates	53.0857°N 6.2197°W / 53.0857; -6.2197
Area	9 hectares
Owned by	Victor Langheld
Status	Open during summer months[2]
Collections	Statues
Website	www.victorsway.eu

The park

The park, which has been known both as Victor's Way and Victoria's Way,^[3] closed in 2015, with the owner stating that "Too may day-trippers came turned it into a fun park for parents with children. It was designed as a contemplative garden for over 28's".^{[citation needed]} The owner re-opened the garden, under its original name of Victor's Way, in April 2016, with new age restrictions and higher entrance fee.^{[citation needed]}

The park is open to the public during the summer months.^[2] A plaque by the entrance says the park is dedicated to cryptographer Alan Turing.^{[citation needed]}

Ownership

The park is owned and maintained by Victor Langheld, who was born in 1940 in Berlin and has lived with a number of different religious orders in India.^{[citation needed]} He has also travelled in Thailand, Japan, and Sri Lanka.^[4] Family inheritance allowed Langheld to spend most of his adult life travelling to spiritual sites in Asia, before travelling to Ireland and sponsoring the construction of the sculpture park.^{[citation needed]}

Langheld designed most of the sculptures,^[5] and continues to curate the park and welcome visitors.^{[citation needed]}

Sculptures

Most of the park's statues are made of black granite and range in height from 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) to 16 feet (4.9 m).^[6] The first structure by the entrance is a sculpted tunnel based on the idea of vagina dentata.^{[citation needed]} The first statue added to the park was the fasting Buddha.^[7]

Eight statues are dedicated to Ganesha, showing the elephant god dancing, reading, and playing musical instruments.^[8] All the Ganesha sculptures were made in Tamil Nadu, India, and each took five craftsmen a year to make.^[5]

A number of the sculptures include small motifs of modernity,^{[citation needed]} such as a small pint of Guinness beside a Ganesha.^{[citation needed]} One of the bronzes is a "copy" of a Gandhara-era sculpture.^[9]

• 
  Fasting Buddha - the first statue in the park
• 
  The entrance to Victor's Way
• 
  Lord Shiva
• 
  Band of Ganeshas