Scientists and religious leaders have expressed doubts that a statue of Hindu deity Hanuman found on a beach in South Africa had been carried there from Sri Lanka by strong waves from the tsunamis.

South African sisters Jenni Ruttledge and Jill Kehagia discovered the hand-painted 25 kg statue Monday at Blythedale Beach on the South African north coast while taking an early morning stroll. 

The statue appeared to have been broken off from its base, with the words "Shri Lanka" neatly painted on it, prompting suggestions that it had been washed onto South African shores from there.

"It was such a beautiful-looking statue and I think its find is symbolic," Ruttledge told the weekly Post.

"When we read the words 'Shri Lanka', our immediate thoughts were that it could have been transported by currents after the tsunami disaster."

But Frank Shellington of the University of Cape Town's Oceanography Department was sceptical about that possibility, despite confirming earlier reports of shoes and other small items drifting across the Pacific to Atlantic shores.

"I feel it is unlikely that a 25 kg statue could have been transported by currents over such a great distance. More tests should be conducted to ascertain exactly where the statue could have originated," Shellington said.

A representative at one of South Africa's oldest temples, the Umgeni Road Temple in Durban, also expressed doubt that any tsunami debris could have reached South African shores.

Selvan Thaver believed that the statue could have been discarded by a Hindu family that may have converted to another religion, something that happens here from time to time.

"We have found, on numerous occasions, statues (in the area where the major river meets the Indian Ocean in Durban). But in the last six to eight months we haven't discovered any discarded religious statues."

While the debate as to the origin of the statue continues, it will find a new home at a local temple.

Ruttledge concluded: "Although it will look beautiful on my mantle piece, I will donate the statue to a temple. If Hanuman made the long trip from Sri Lanka to Blythedale Beach, then here is where he will stay."