The Statue of Unity, Kevadiya
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
A brief introduction
A comparison with the top 5 tallest statues in the world
Some detail about the construction material used
And the map showing the location of Sadhu Beyt: Statue Of Unity
From: November 1, 2018: The Hindu
See graphic:
Some facts about the Sadhu Beyt- Statue Of Unity
2010-18: a history of the project
Kapil Dave, STATUE OF UNITY A GLOBAL LANDMARK, October 29, 2018: The Times of India
From: Kapil Dave, STATUE OF UNITY A GLOBAL LANDMARK, October 29, 2018: The Times of India
From: Kapil Dave, STATUE OF UNITY A GLOBAL LANDMARK, October 29, 2018: The Times of India
The Spectacular Memorial To India’s Iron Man Sardar Patel Is Twice The Height Of Statue Of Liberty In New York
The Time magazine in 1947 called him ‘The Boss’ who unified over 562 disparate princely states. Many had hailed him as India’s Bismarck. The visage of the country’s first deputy PM, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who was fondly called the ‘Iron man of India,’ now stands clad in bronze in the shape of the world’s tallest statue (182 metres, twice the height of the Statue of Liberty) built at a project cost of Rs 2,979 crore on Sadhu Beyt.
The breathtaking Statue Of Unity is set against the glistening basalt rocks of the Vindhya and Satpura hills of the Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary. The statue, befitting Sardar’s stature, is set to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31, Sardar’s birth anniversary, with BJP setting the ball rolling for its 2019 Lok Sabha poll campaigns.
In 2010, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was the chief minister of Gujarat he had revealed his plans for building the Statue of Unity. Modi had said then, “It is a tribute to the great man who united India. The state government and my party (BJP) have decided to build the world’s tallest statue dedicated to Sardar Patel.”
BJP’s massive campaign went on to associate Modi with Sardar’s political style, and his emphasis on ‘good governance’. Right from the Gaurav Yatra days of 2002, Modi would often be referred to as ‘Chhote Sardar’.
Initially, the Statue of Unity was planned to mark Modi’s decade-long stint as Gujarat chief minister in the run-up to the 2012 state elections. But soon, Sardar’s statue extrapolated to becoming the uniting point for BJP’s 2014 Lok Sabha poll campaigning, when large rallies and marathons like the ‘Run for Unity’ were organized by the BJP.
The Statue of Unity is ambitious both in its scale and its design. The soaring structure will be complemented by an integrated complex housing a hotel, a memorial garden and a visitor centre, 3.5km away from the Sardar Sarovar Dam. It required complicated engineering, and a composite reinforcement to support the huge structure on a rocky outcrop in the middle of the Narmada river bed.
The project website says that nearly 3 lakh soil samples were collected, along with 700 tonnes of iron in the form of donated farm equipment from across the country. And now the Statue of Unity’s completion will serve as the bugle for the BJP machinery to mobilize the masses with the message of national unity, and prime them for 2019.
Political science expert Dinesh Shukla says, “Modi used the Statue of Unity to rally support for his 2014 Lok Sabha campaign, and on the project’s completion, he will try to use it to mobilize masses for 2019.” He adds, “The statue may help the BJP to an extent when it comes to Lok Sabha seats of Gujarat.’’
BUILT WITH PEOPLE IN MIND
The primary approach bridge is 306 metres long. There are eight travellators. At the base there is a cafeteria with capacity of 264, a gift shop, parking for 800 vehicles. The premises have capacity of 15,000 visitors per day. The Shreshtha Bharat Bhavan, a three-star facility, has 52 rooms, swimming pool and other amenities.
An engineering marvel
October 29, 2018: The Times of India
The making of the Statue of Unity did not come easy. Initially, the Gujarat government through a US consultant hired Joseph Menna, an American 3D sculptor in Philadelphia for the statue’s first digital model. Menna was known for making cartoon models for DC Comics (collectables) McFarlane Toys, and Mattel. “Menna’s digital proof was adapted from Padma Bhushan sculptor Ram V Sutar’s Sardar statue installed at Ahmedabad airport in 2011, and so the state government chose Sutar for the project,” said a senior Narmada Water Resources department official. Sutar’s works include the ‘Gandhi in Meditation’ statue in the Parliament complex.
In June 2011, after inviting a global expression interest, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) was chosen for the project. At the time, the company had committed to finishing the project in 42 months at a project cost of Rs 2,979 crore.
American giant Turner Construction, which built the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, was a consultant.
The project’s architect is Michael Graves, designer of the 1985 Team Disney Building in Burbank, US and skyscrapers, while SoU’s engineering consultant is the Meinhardt Group, who are involved in building the proposed “Aladdin City,” Dubai. The brass claddings were manufactured at China’s Jiangxi Tongqing Metal Handicrafts.
