The Prime Minister of India Shri. Narendra Modi has inaugurated the statue of Sardar Vallabhai Patel on October 31st marking his 143rd birth anniversary. It is named as the “Statue of Unity”.
The name of the statue was named “Statue of Unity” because Sardar Vallabhai Patel was behind the unification of country. This statue is the tallest in the world with height upto 182 mts. It is located in the river island called Sadhu Bet near Rajapala, Gujarat. It is situated by the river Narmadha overlooking the Vindhyas.
The Statue of Unity was designed by the veteran designer and sculptor Ram Vanji Sutar. He is a Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan recipient. L&T, the construction giant of the country along with Chinese foundry Jiangxi Tongqing and Malaysian based Eversendai, which constructed Dubai’s popular Burj Al Arab and Burj Khalifa buildings have constructed this huge monument. The Chinese foundry was chosen to mould the bronze cladding and the Malaysian company was given the contract for the steel framework.
Some of the interesting facts of this monument are: –
- Workforce of 3,400 was involved.
- Construction period was about 33 months.
- Total height is 208 mts including the base.
- The statue can withstand windspeed upto 50 m/s, earthquakes measuring upto 6.5 on the Richter Scale.
- The total cost was close to 3000 Cr.
- The height of this statue is 100 times the height of a person who is 6 feet tall.
This complex also has a viewing gallery that can accommodate 200 visitors at a time. This also overlooks the massive Sardar Sarovar Dam.
This statue is the highest in the world leaving behind Spring Temple Buddha in China, Statue of Liberty in U.S etc.
