Over seven months after his death, Michael Jackson is etched in the hearts of millions of fans forever – and also in 12 feet of black granite that its maker plans to ship to the late king of pop’s Neverland Ranch in California.

RC Golden Granites managing director R Chandrasekaran is ready with a 12-ft statue of Jackson weighing 3.5 tonnes, sculpted out of a single black granite stone.

The statue may find a place in Jackson’s estate in California, if his family accepts Chandrasekaran’s offer. “Six craftsmen worked round the clock for 45 days to finish the statue at our workshop in Kancheepuram,” said Chandrasekaran. “It’s a personal tribute to the greatest pop singer of our times. Jackson may have left the stage, but he will live on in our hearts for ever.” Chandrasekaran’s company specialises in monuments and the tag line of his brochure reads: ‘Keeping the globe from getting warmer is everybody’s concern; keeping the souls of the departed is our sole concern.’

“I’ve written to Jackson’s family expressing my desire to gift the statue. I am waiting for a reply from them. I will bear the shipping expenses, which will come to about $2,500,’’ Chandrasekaran said. A music lover, he also plans to sculpt a statue of music maestro, Oscar and Grammy winner AR Rahman.

The biggest challenge, he says, was chiseling Jackson’s face, since none of the sculptors had seen him in real life. From several photographs collected from the internet, the artists created a bust of Jackson using plaster of Paris before getting down to work on the real thing. They also watched Jackson’s all-time hit ‘Beat it’ to get a hang of the pop king’s postures. As black granite is brittle, the work was a test of patience, diligence and skill. “His eyes were the most challenging as we wanted the statue to be expressive,” Chandrasekaran said.

The statue drew crowds at the ninth International Granites & Stone Fair held in Bangalore last week.