STATUE OF UNITY ESSAY 3 (600 WORDS)

STATUE OF UNITY ESSAY 

Introduction

Statue of Unity is a spectacular statue of the eminent Indian leader, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He played an important part in the unification of India. He united the numerous princely states of the country to give shape to modern India. To honour this noble soul, Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to build a big statue of him in Gujarat. He came up with the idea in 2010 that marked his tenth year as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. The announcement received a mixed response from the general public as well as political leaders. The statue was unveiled on 31st October 2018 coinciding with the 143rd birth anniversary of Sardar Patel.

Construction of the Magnanimous Statue

Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the Statue of Unity on Sardar Patel’s 138th birth anniversary i.e., on 31st October 2013. In order to lay the foundation stone and begin with the construction, the Sadhu Bet hillock was flattened from 70 to 55 metres.

The construction of the magnanimous statue began in 2014 after a lot of research by the architects and engineers. The total time taken to build this statue was 56 months. This involved 15 months of research and planning and 40 months of construction. It took 2 months to hand it over. The architects and artists appointed for the task observed and studied Sardar Patel’s statues installed across India.

After a lot of analysis and discussions, it was unanimously decided to come up with a statue similar to that constructed at Ahmadabad International Airport, but much bigger in size. The Statue of Unity stands tall at a height of 182 m. The total height of the monument including the base is 240 m. The statue’s height (182 m) was tactfully chosen to match the number of seats in Gujarat Legislative Assembly.

The project was supervised by a consortium of Meinhardt Group, Michael Graves and Associates and Tuner Construction. The total cost involved in the project was around 3000 crore. This was the lowest bid received for the construction of the statue. Larsen and Toubro made this bid and got the contract. The cost did not just involve the construction of the monument but also its designing and maintenance cost for the next fifteen years.

Around 250 engineers and more than 3000 labourers were employed to construct this huge monument. Thousands of tonnes of structural and reinforced steel, bronze and iron were utilized for the construction of the statue.

Statues around the World

There are many statues around the world that fetch tourists from far and wide. Some of these include the Statue of Liberty in New York, United States, Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, The Thinker in Paris, David Statue in Italy, The Motherland Calls statue in Volgograd, Russia; The Little Mermaid in Denmark and the Spring Temple Buddha in China. However, none of them is even closer when it comes to the Statue of Unity’s height. The Statue of Unity is the tallest statue in the world.

Quick Facts about Statue of Unity

Here are few facts about the Statue of Unity:

1. The statue has been divided into five zones. Out of these, only three are accessible to the public.
2. It includes an exhibition area, memorial garden and a museum.
3. It is constructed on Sadhu Bet which is a river island.
4. It stands at a distance of 3.2 km from the Narmada Dam downstream.
5. The Statue of Unity is surrounded by 12 km long artificial lake formed by Garudeshwar Dam on the Narmada River.

Conclusion

Statue of Unity is truly an engineering marvel. It is a tribute to Indian engineering skills. Our skilled labourers, architects and engineers have received immense appreciation for constructing this intricately designed enormous piece of art. We are proud to have the tallest statue of the world in our country.