Groundbreaking for the US$1.3 billion Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) near the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii was delayed Tuesday after protesters thwarted both the groundbreaking and blessing ceremony.

During the live webcast event, the host announced that attendees would be late as dozens of native Hawaiian protestors, joined by other activists, blocked the only road to the summit atop Mauna Kea, according to the Associated Press.

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The event paves way for the official construction launch of TMT observatory that will house the world's largest telescope to date.

The nonprofit, multinational project was first introduced by the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy, California Institute of Technology and the University of California. Japan, India, China, U.S. and Canada later signed up as partners.

With its giant mirror measuring nearly 30 meters in diameter, TMT will give high definition views of space. TMT will also let astronomers watch and observe celestial bodies some 13 billion light years away. It will identify small objects even at distances of about 310 miles.

Mauna Kea, being highly elevated with minimal temperature alterations and low relative humidity, is regarded as ideal for the TMT. But for the native Hawaiians, the massive telescope is a heinous defilement of their sacred mountain. 

Dubbed the "Mountain of the Sky Father," the mountain isn't merely a spiritual and historical location where interment of umbilical cords and burials take place. It's also a delicate ecosystem that serves as a home for the rare native wekiu insects and the diminishing Lake Waiau.

"The TMT is an atrocity the size of Aloha Stadium," stated cultural practitioner Kamahana Kealoha. He added that building the TMT is like violating the mountain culturally, environmentally and spiritually.

Students from the University of Hawaii and other activists across Atlantic in Palo Alto echoed their protest against the construction.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the TMT project, Sanda Dawson, clarified the delay won't have any effect in the construction of the observatory.

TagsMauna Kea, Hawaii Protest, TMT, Thirty Meter Telescope