India will today (Oct. 31) unveil the world’s tallest statue, that of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, a leading light of the country’s long freedom struggle against the British.
Prime minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the towering structure, located on an island along the Narmada river in the western state of Gujarat, on Patel’s 143rd birth anniversary.
At 182 metres (240 metres including the base), the “Statue of Unity” tops the Spring Temple Buddha (128 metres) in China that previously held the record for the world’s tallest statue. It’s also twice the size of the Statue of Liberty in New York. Built by the engineering and infrastructure firm Larsen & Toubro, using some components made in China, the statue required over 18,000 tonnes of reinforced steel and 1,700 tonnes of bronze.
In order to build the #StatueOfUnity, lakhs of farmers from all over India came together, gave their tools, portions of the soil and thus, a mass movement developed: PM @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/NaXjD9Gtp4
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) October 31, 2018
Born in Nadiad, Gujarat, Patel was a lawyer-turned-politician of the Indian National Congress who worked closely with Mahatma Gandhi. Following Independence, he served as the country’s first deputy prime minister and home minister. He’s remembered the most as the “iron man” for forging a new nation, convincing 565 big and small princely states to integrate into it.
Over the years, despite belonging to the rival Bharatiya Janata Party, Modi has been effusive in his praise for the leader, even accusing past governments and parties of trying to “run down” and erase Patel’s legacy. The construction of the statue was a pet project of the prime minister, who laid its foundation on Oct. 31, 2013, as chief minister of Gujarat.
In the years since then, the enormous statue has been fraught with controversies.
The Statue of Unity was built at an estimated $430 million. Most of this money came from the government and public sector companies such as the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum. Naturally, this sparked heavy criticism over the misuse of taxpayer money, which could have been put to better use in infrastructure development, education, and health care in a country that fares poorly on all these counts.
Of course, India is now no stranger to spending exorbitant amounts on enormous statues: In 2016, the government of the western state of Maharashtra earmarked over $500 million to build a giant statue of the 16th century chieftain, Shivaji Bhonsle, just off the Mumbai coast. Around 54,000 Indians then signed a petition against “wasting” the staggering amount of money. However, a few changes in the plan (notably the height of the statue) aside, the project is well on its way.
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