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The Messengers are two robot-shaped sculptures by Sri Lankan artist Kumkum Fernando, first shown as three figures at the 2023 Coachella festival. Two are now permanently installed in downtown Indio, California, at Towne Street and Bliss Avenue, and are reported at 65 to 75 feet tall.
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The Messengers giant robots
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Approximate location · 33.721° N, 116.216° W
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The story
Two robot-shaped figures, 65 to 75 feet tall, stand in a grassy lot in downtown Indio, California, according to Visit Greater Palm Springs, and they began life as festival art.
The Messengers were made by Sri Lankan artist Kumkum Fernando for the 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Dezeen reported in April 2023 that he created three massive statuesque figures, the tallest 80 feet, with robotic silhouettes covered in colourful motifs found on Hindu and Buddhist temples in South Asia. Each figure had a plinth where people could gather and look up. Fernando keeps a library of patterns for his large-scale work, and told Dezeen how the idea arrived: "One day, I was arranging objects, and they appeared to form a figure."
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Outdoor festival sculptures in a grassy downtown Indio lot. Visit Greater Palm Springs (April 2026) lists a second sculpture, Heavy Metal, in the same lot. Dezeen described plinths at the festival where people gathered to look up.
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Downtown Indio, California, near the corner of Towne Street and Bliss Avenue, in a grassy lot, per Visit Greater Palm Springs (April 2026).
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