4 Reasons India’s Controversial Statue of Unity is Iconic
Newly unveiled, India’s Statue of Unity is a memorial dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the “Iron Man of India”. It was inaugurated with great fanfare by none other than India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on October 31, which is also the Indian legend’s 143rd birthday.
Photo by Naveed Ahmed on Unsplash
It’s a Destination by Itself
At 177 feet higher than China’s Spring Temple Buddha, and
four times taller than the Statue of Liberty, the Statue of Unity is sure to
draw tourists from both within India and internationally. It is officially the world’s tallest statue,
and this fact is hard to ignore. You can book online tickets to visit the
Statue of Unity for INR 350 per person to the 153 meter high observation deck,
which opened November 3, 2018.
The statue depicts Sardar Patel in a shawl and dhoti, in a
towering position over the River Narmada. The setting by the river, which is
important for many Gujaratis, and Indians all over will only add to the aura
surrounding the Statue.
A special train called the “Unity Express” has already been
flagged off by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited. It
will run for 12 days with boarding points at Rajkot, Surendra Nagar, Viramgam,
Sabarmati, Anand, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Vapi, Kalyan, and Pune so that more
people are able to visit the soon to be world famous site.
The engineering marvel will be a must-see for travelers from
all over the world, adding to the beauty and splendor of the already culturally
rich India.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Acknowledged
Patel was India’s chief architect. When the British
decided to leave, he had the unenviable task of uniting the disparate
562 princely states that were deeply divided on religious and cultural
lines. Gifted with Kautilya’s brain, Patel understood how important it was to
bring the princely states together, more importantly, he also knew how to go
about it.
There was hard political bargaining involved and only
someone with a strong political will could have done it. Fortunately for India,
there was Patel.
Unfortunately, India had so far not accorded the leader
his full due, neither in the political discourse, nor in terms of symbolism. By
giving him the world’s highest statue, India has finally moved closer to
honouring the legend the way he should have been.
It Unites People
Scrap metal from about 600,000 villages under the Loha
Campaign from across India. This is the
tribute that Sardar Patel would have cherished the most – metal collected from
across the entire country that he unified has now been used to create his due
place on the global stage.
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
There will be many opportunities for jobs here,
given the fact that the site will soon be turned into a tourist destination.
Upkeep, tours, maintenance… the tallest statue in the world will need people to
help it continue to stand tall. Just
like Sardar Vallabbhai Patel would have wanted.