Statue of Unity: How India built the world's tallest sculpture

BusinessToday.In

Oct 30, 2018,
Updated Oct 30, 2018 4:15 PM IST

The world's tallest statue is set to be inaugurated on Wednesday, October 31. Dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, fondly known as the Iron Man of India, the Statue of Unity will be unveiled by PM Narendra Modi on the statesman's birth anniversary. "The Statue will stand high, not just in meters and feet, but much more in terms of academic, historical, national and spiritual values. My vision is to develop the place as a source of inspiration for ages to come," PM Modi had said. Let's look at what went into building the towering statue of Sardar Patel.

The big numbersThe Statue of Unity has been constructed at a cost of Rs 2,989 crore by construction and engineering company Larsen & Toubro Ltd. The exterior of the statue is coated with 1,850 tonne of bronze. For the interior, 1,80,000 cubic metre of concrete cement, 18,500 tonne of reinforced steel and 6,500 tonne of structured steel has been used. Around 135 metric tonne of iron was brought in from lakhs of villages in India. Around 3,000 workers and 250 engineers worked together to create this statue.

Tallest statue in the worldStanding tall - very tall - at 182 metre, the mammoth replica of Sardar Patel is the world's tallest statue, leaving behind USA's Statue of Liberty (93 metre), Japan's Ushiku Daibutsu (120 metre) and even China's Spring Temple Buddha (153 metre) statues.

The locationErecting a statue of such gigantic proportions in no mean feat; on top of that, the location of the statue posed its own unique challenges. Standing tall in the middle of river Narmada at Sadhu Bet, the statue is also built to withstand winds of 180km/hour and earthquakes of up to 6.5 Richter scale.

The designThe Statue of Unity was designed by Noida-based sculptor Ram V Sutar, who took special care to ensure that the face of the statue resembles Sardar Patel's. Around 2,000 photographs were studied and historians consulted.

The designTwo elevators in the statue's core will take passengers up to the level of the statue's chest to a viewing gallery. The gallery can accommodate 200 visitors at one go and will also offer stunning views of the river Narmada, its dam and the surrounding Satpura and Vindhyachal hills. There's also a selfie point, so that visitors do not miss this unique opportunity.

InfrastructureThere is a three-star hotel, a museum and audio visual gallery near the statue. Sadhu Bet is connected to the mainland by a 320-metre-long bridge. The government is also building a 3.5 km long highway from Kevadia town.