CASTELLANE, France, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Police cleared out the hilltop headquarters of the secretive Golden Lotus cult in southeastern France before dawn on Wednesday to prepare to fell a towering statue of its guru that was built illegally.
About 15 cult members guarding the statue were evacuated from what they call the "holy city of Mandarom" near this Haute Provence region town, a sprawling compound packed with statues and temples that looks like a surrealist theme park.
One member scrambled to the top of the 33-metre (110 ft) high statue to protest against its destruction, ordered by a court in July because the statue had been built without planning permission.
Bringing him down "required some gymnastics and a lot of attention on our part," regional prefect Bernard Lemaire said.
Demolition workers began preparations to place explosives to topple the golden-crowned statue of cult founder Gilbert Bourdin, the self-proclaimed "cosmic planetary messiah" and "high priest of the knights of the Golden Lotus."
Bourdin, who claimed to be immortal and the saviour of the world, died of heart disease in 1998 aged 74. His following has dwindled from 1,200 at its height to about 400.
The concrete statue, which locals consider an eyesore but attracts thousands of curious tourists every year, shows Bourdin resplendent in white robes with gold ornament, sceptres in his hands and a tiara on his head.
A Hindu bindi on his forehead blinks at night, as do flashing jewels on another giant statue of a Buddha-like figure in the Lotus position.
Bourdin founded Mandarom in 1969 as a synthesis of all religions. He fought long legal battles with the local authorities of Castellane, about 50 km (30 miles) northwest of the Riveria resort of Cannes, about expanding the compound.
His followers, who believe he will one day be resurrected from a local grave that town officials covered over with a thick layer of reinforced concrete, had appealed to the European Court of Human Rights against the decision to destroy the statue.
Local officials did not wait for a ruling from the court.
05:04 09-05-01
Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.