Second tallest statue in the world coming up outside Hyderabad

If Gujarat is going to getintotherecordbookswiththe ‘Statue of Unity’ — a 597ft statue ofthefirsthomeministerofIndia, SardarVallabhbhaiPatel,onthe banks of river Narmada, Telangana, too, will soon have the world’s second tallest statue in a seated posture.

The 216ft metallic statue of VaishnvaitesaintSriRamanujacharya, called the ‘Statue of Equality’, will come up in a sprawling 40-acre space on the premises of Sri Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamy ashram at Muchintal village, close to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The erection of the statue is nearing completion and other work around it is in progress.

“Thefirst phaseoftheproject, comprisingthemainstatueofSri Ramanujacharya, the ‘parikrama’ and the temple, will be completed by March 2018. PM Narendra Modi has agreed in principle to unveil it in April,” saidDevanathaSwamy,disciple of Chinna Jeeyar Swamy.

Swamy said that the ₹1,000 croreprojectwastakenupaspart oftheShasrabdi(1,000thanniversary)celebrationsofSriRamanucharya,whowasbornin1017and lived for 120 years, propagating theHinduphilosophyofVishishtadwaita (qualified non-dual- ism).

“ItwasRamanujacharyawho fought against discrimination in the name of caste, colour and creed, and propounded that the Almightyisspreadacrossall living beings. That is why we have decided to call it the Statue of Equality,” Swamy said.

Thestatuewillbemadeof‘panchaloha’(analloyoffivemetals— gold, silver, copper, brass, and tin/lead) and will be the second tallest statue in the world (the firstbeingthe302-ftstatueofBuddha in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand).

“We could have had the taller statuebuttheAirportsAuthority of India had given clearance of only up to 216 ft, since it is closer to the Hyderabad international airport,” he said.

ThestatuewasmadebyAerosun Corporation in China and was shipped to Hyderabad in July. A team of 60 professionals assembledthestatue.“Thecostof the statue itself is ₹100 crore, for which we had to pay ₹32 crore importdutytothegovernment,” Swamy said.

DNV Prasad Sthapathi, chief sculptor,whowaswithTirumala Tirupati Devasthanam earlier, told HT that the statue would be positioned on a lotus built over a three-storied 54-ft structure called Bhadravedi. “So far, we havespentover₹350crore.Donationsarepouringinfromallparts of the world,” he said.

HYDERABAD: