It is certain that the Statue of Liberty in the USA is one of the largest statues in the World. But it’s not the tallest statue in the world.
The Statue of Unity is so high that the Statue of Liberty’s extended arm barely reaches its belly. The 182-metre-tall giant statue stands in all its glory in a position overlooking the Narmada River near the town of Kevadia in Gujarat, India.
This statue depicts Vallabhbhai Patel, an Indian independence activist, who was born in Gujarat in 1875, India’s first deputy prime minister. Working with Mahatma Gandhi, Patel played an important role in the nonviolent act of civil disobedience that eventually succeeded in liberating India from British colonial rule in 1947. Patel is also known as the “Iron Man of India” for his uncompromising leadership and determination.
Earthquake resistant despite its giant size
The Statue of Unity cost $422 million to build and consists of a steel frame and reinforced concrete structure clad in bronze. Despite its gigantic size, it is designed to withstand winds of up to 50 meters per second and is in the earthquake resistant building class.
When the Statue of Unity was completed, it surpassed the Spring Temple Buddha statue in China by 54 meters to become the world’s largest statue. Photos taken and shared by tourists next to the toes of the statue give a better idea of the size of this statue.
The mega-project to build the statue was announced by Narendra Modi in October 2013 while he was serving as the Prime Minister of Gujarat. The statue was completed in October 2018, ahead of Patel’s 143rd birthday celebrations, during which Modi became prime minister of India.
Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was keen to feature heroes of the independence movement such as Patel, in support of India’s history and a strong sense of Hindu identity.
At the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Modi said, “The statue will remind those who question the existence of India that this nation is and will be eternal” and continued: “The height of the statue is to remind the youth that the future of the country will be this big. It is also emblematic of our engineering and technology capabilities.”
Couldn’t please everyone
While the monument was intended to be a symbol of national unity, this statue did not please everyone. A day before its official opening, at least 300 activists were arrested for protesting the statue. After the construction was reported to have displaced farmers and surrounding villages, some argued that the project only benefits the tourism industry and building contractors, not local residents.
However, despite its enormous size, the Statue of Unity may not hold the position of the world’s largest statue for long. India has announced plans to build a statue that rises up to 212 meters on an artificial island in the Arabian Sea, just off the coast of Mumbai. This statue is intended to depict Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, known as Shiv Smarak, the 17th century Indian warrior king and founder of the Maratha Empire. Although it was originally hoped that the statue would be completed by 2022, the statue is not yet complete and an opening date is not seen in the near future.
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