Interesting Facts About Statue of Unity
Statue of Unity, the World’s Tallest Statue, is a tribute to ‘Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel’ who was an India Independence Leader. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is also known as ‘Iron Man of India’. He was born on October 31st 1875. His birth anniversary is celebrated as ‘Rashtriaya Ekta Diwas’.
On the occasion of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel’s 143rd birth anniversary, India’s Prime Minister, ‘Narendra Modi’ inaugurated the ‘Statue of Unity’ at Gujarat’s Kevadiya on 31st October 2018.
Following are few interesting facts about Statue of Unity. Let’s go through these one by one:
- The ‘Statue of Unity’ is almost twice the height of the ‘Statue of Liberty’ in the United States of America which makes it the tallest statue in the world. Its height is 182 meters or 597 feet, into the sky.
- This Statue was designed by Indian Sculptor, ‘Ram Vanji Sutar’ who is a Padma Bhushan Awardee and one of the historical most prolific monumental sculptors.
- Mr. Patel was India’s first Deputy Prime Minister. He has worked to bring together more than 554 princely states ruled by monarchs.
- The Monument took 8 years to design and 4 years to build.
- Statue of Unity is wearing a traditional Dhoti and Shawl, facing Sardar Sarovar Dam on Narmada River in Gujarat’s Kevadiya Town.
- Gujarat has made history by unveiling world’s tallest statue ‘The Statue Of Unity’. The Statue is made of steel and bronze, It is pride of Gujarat Tourism which spreads the message of Unity all over the World.
- Larsen and Toubro, Indian Infrastructure Company won the contract on 27th Oct, 2014 for its lowest bid of INR 29.89 billion (US $420 million) for the design, construction and maintenance of the Statue. L&T employed over 3,500 workers and 250 engineers in the statue’s construction.
- It contains a viewing gallery at the height of 135m level that is in the chest of the statue. 200 visitors can visit the breath-taking viewing area at a particular point of time.
- The entrance of the Statue, starts with a Museum and Audio Visual Gallery, that features 15 min presentation on the life of ‘Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel’ and the culture of Gujarat.
- The helicopter ride at the ‘Statue of Unity’ is for 10 min and costs appx. INR 2,950 per person. In helicopter, the tourists not only get to see a panoramic view of the statue but also of Sardar Sarovar Dam, Narmada river, and the Satpura and Vindhya hills.
- Sardar Sarovar Dam, the jewel of river Narmada providing a stunning backdrop to this Wonder of the World, is another level of engineering, the World’s Largest Dam – Sardar Sarovar Dam and its surrounding landscape. Basically, It is an ‘All – in – one ‘ nature experience for the travelers.
- In the statue of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, 4 metals have been used that won’t get rusted for years. 85% of copper has been used in the statue.
- The statue depicts the walking pose of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel. The gap between the two feet of the statue is 6.4 metres which was tested to withstand the wind velocity upto 180 kmph and tolerate the earthquake upto 6.5 magnitude.
- There is also a 17 km Long Valley of Flowers and a Tent City near the ‘Statue of Unity’. It has a separate ‘Selfie Point’ near the Statue of Unity for those who love to click pictures.
- The 22,500 million ton cement is used to build the ‘World’s Tallest Statue’.
- The statue is having a height of 182 metres which is 23 metres taller than China’s Spring Temple Buddha Statue.
- The approximate project cost is INR 3000 crore. It was fully funded by the Gujarat Government.
‘Statue of Unity’ is a symbol of India’s Integrity, India’s Determination and India’s Unity. It shows that India will always be eternal.
“Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat”