Statue of Unity

• 16 Mar 2021

Why in News

Recently, the ‘Statue of Unity’ at Kevadia in Gujarat’s Narmada district has crossed the mark of 50 lakh visitors since its inauguration in 2018.

• India’s first seaplane service in Gujarat started from 31st October, 2020. It connects Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad to the Statue of Unity in Kevadia.

Key Points

• About:
  
  • The Statue of Unity is built in honour of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Sardar Patel is credited with uniting 560 princely states in pre-independent India hence the name of the statue is christened as ‘Statue of Unity’.
  • It was inaugurated on 31^st October, 2018 to mark the 143^rd birth anniversary of Sardar Patel.
  • The Statue of Unity is the tallest statue in the world. At 182 metres, it is 23 metres taller than China's Spring Temple Buddha statue and almost double the height of the Statue of Liberty (93 metres tall) in the US.
  • In January 2020, it was added in the ‘Eight Wonders’ of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
• Location:
  
  • It is located on the Sadhu Bet island on the Narmada river, which flows between the Satpura and the Vindhya mountain ranges.
• Designed:
  
  • The Statue of Unity was designed by Padma Bhushan recipient sculptor Ram V Sutar and intricate bronze cladding work was done by a Chinese foundry, the Jiangxi Toqine Company (JTQ).

Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel

• Born:
  
  • 31^st October 1875 in Nadiad, Gujarat.
• Achievements:
  
  • First Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of India.
  • Headed various Committees of the Constituent Assembly of India, namely:
    
    • Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights.
    • Committee on Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas.
    • Provincial Constitution Committee.
  • Integrated the farmer’s cause in Kheda Satyagraha (1918) and Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) with the national freedom movement.
  • Women of Bardoli bestowed the title ‘Sardar’ on Vallabhbhai Patel, which means ‘a Chief or a Leader’.
  • Known as the “Iron Man of India” for playing an important role in unification and integration of Indian princely states into the Indian federation and for convincing princely states to align with the Indian Union.
  • Requested the people of India to live together by uniting (Ek Bharat) in order to create a foremost India (Shresth Bharat).
  • This ideology still reflects in the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative which seeks to make India self-reliant.
  • Remembered as the ‘Patron Saint of India’s Civil Servants’ as he established the modern all-India services system.
• Death:
  
  • 15^th December 1950 in Bombay.

Source -IE