Page 28 - Seniors Today - April Issue

Travel
The
Tallest
Tribute
Malti Gaekwad visits the Statue of Unity in Gujarat,
and comes away impressed
One has been hearing about the Statue of
Unity since a couple of years now, but how
much do we really know about it. It is said
to be a world class tourist attraction, but is it
really? Thought of taking a family trip and
checking it out personally and to say the least,
we are highly impressed.
It was built as a tribute to Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel, the Iron Man, who was
the first Home Minister and the first Deputy
PM of Independent India. He is known for his
leadership in uniting 562 princely states of
our country to form the Union of India.
To help Gujarat overcome its water woes,
it was the dream of Sardar Patel to build a
dam over the Narmada River as its water
was being wasted by flowing into the sea
while parts of Gujarat remained parched.
The foundation stone of the dam was laid by
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1961.
In recent years the height of the dam was
increased after obtaining environmental
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clearances from competent authorities and
the dam was re-dedicated to the nation on the
143rd. birth anniversary of Sardar Patel.
On completing 10 years as CM of Gujarat,
Narendra Modi had announced the building
of the statue as a tribute to Sardar Patel. The
place chosen is an island in the Narmada
River which flows between the Satpuda and
Vindhyachal ranges. The location is about
100 kms. from the city of Vadodara in a tribal
area called Kevadiya.
Making of the statue
We were told that many artists and architects
were invited to give their design ideas
and suggestions and finally a statue made
by veteran 90-year-old sculptor Ram V
Suthar was selected for this mega project.
First he made a 3-ft-tall statue of a standing
Vallabhbhai Patel in his signature style
wearing a dhoti, kurta, jacket, sandals and
shawl. Then it was remade in 18ft. This statue