‘The Statue of Unity’ – Few Amazing Facts About the World’s Tallest Statue

The year 2018 will be listed in the books of Indian history for creating one of the largest statues in the world. 31st October this year became rememberable when all the citizens of India paid tribute combinedly to our first Home and Deputy Prime Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The Statue of Unity, which has also become an icon of unitedness, was inaugurated by our very honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself on an auspicious occasion of 143rd birth anniversary of Iron Man of India, who also remained one of the freedom fighters of India. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is one of those legendary heroes of whom the nation will always get inspired due to his wise decisions made during the independence and post-colonial organisation movement in India. He died in the year 1950 after India got freedom in the year 1947. It was him who convinced that more than 550 princely states shall join India out of 584 of them and so he was given a name of Iron man of India.

Let us have a look at some the Amazing facts about the statue of Unity

  • This statue’s construction was started five years back i.e. in 2013 October and was estimated to be completed in a budget of approximately Rs 3,001 crores. When the bidding for its design, maintenance and construction processes were made, Larsen and Turbo won the quotation and in 2014, a contract of Rs 2,989 crores was made between them and Indian government.
  • Mid of October of 2018 was the proposed date for completion and inauguration of the statue since the Indian government did not wanted to miss Patel’s’ 143rd birth anniversary celebration.  And so, the Statue was targeted to be completed within the given time period.
  • The Statue of Unity is built over the Western Ghats of Gujarat located nearby Sardar Sarovar Dam on the river Narmada. Surprisingly, even the dam itself is considered as one of the largest structures standing at 42 meters height. The statue is around 200 km distance from the state’s capital i.e. Ahmedabad.
  • In order to welcome guests and increase tourism in the state, Gujarat government has built a 3-star hotel along with a shopping centre and a research academy beside The Statue of Unity which has got high-speed elevators to take you at a height of 400 metres through the core of the statue. Around 200 people can stand at one time on the high platform close to the torso of the statue to envisage a beautiful panoramic view of the surrounding regions.
  • The statue is open for public every day of the year from 9am to 6pm. For adults and children above the age of three years, a ticket of Rs 350 has to purchased. This premium ticket will also allow entry to museum, Sardar Patel’s memorial, Valley of Flowers, Statue site, observation deck and audio-visual gallery along with Sardar Sarovar dam. Besides opting for a premium ticket, you can also opt for a basic entry fee of Rs 120 for adults and 60 for children below 15 years of age. Under this option, you would be allowed an entry to Valley of flowers, museum, Sardar Patel memorial and audio-visual gallery along with Sardar Sarovar dam.
  • This statue has been built with earthquake and vibration proof elements and is able to withstand a wind velocity of around 100 km per second.
  • For the statue, around 129 tonnes of iron substances were brought from around 100 million farmers across 169,000 villages of the various states situated all over India.
  • The innermost cladding of the statue is made out of reinforced cement concrete, bronze and steel that forms a three-layered structure internally. The exterior bronze cladding has been done by a Chinese firm named Jiangxi Toqine Co. According to the scientists, this bronze cladding will turn greenish in colour with time due to natural ageing process and oxidation. Even, The Statue of Liberty, that was originally brown in colour, changed to green in around 30 years from the day it was built.

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