Interesting Facts about Statue of Unity | Fusion - WeRIndia

The Statue of Unity is a memorial dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Yesterday i.e. on October 31, Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi unveiled the statue in Gujarat to commemorate the 143^rd birth anniversary of Sardar Patel.

Sardar Patel was India’s first Home minister. He is also known as the Iron Man of India.

Here are some interesting facts about the Statue of Unity:

• The Statue of Unity will be tallest statue in the world with its height of 182 meters. It is twice the size of Statue of Liberty in New York. The statue is visible from a 7-km radius.
• The height of statue was decided to be with 182 meters to match with the number of constituencies in Gujarat Legislative Assembly at present.
• China’s Spring Temple Buddha is the tallest statue in the world at present. The Statue of Unity will stand 177 feet higher than that.
• The dream project of PM Modi was started by him five years ago on October 31, 2013. At that time, he was the CM of Gujarat. It was finished in a record time of 33 months.
• Ram Vanji Sutar, the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan award winning sculptor designed the statue, and Larsen and Toubro (L&T) built it. Sutar had designed over 50 sculptors. Mahatma Gandhi statue inside the Parliament complex is one among sculptors.
• Approximately 3,400 people and 250 engineers were engaged in the construction work of the statue.
• Nearly 2.25 crore kg cement had been used for the construction of the statue. This is equivalent to the weight of 56 Boeing 747 planes.
• 50 lakh kg iron had been used for the statue which was collected from all over the country.
• Though the initial cost was estimated at around ₹3,001 crore, L&T won the bid of contract by quoting at ₹2,989 crore.
• Nearly 15,000 tourists are expected to visit the statue daily.
• The statue can withstand wind velocity up to 180 km/h, vibrations and earthquakes.
• One can reach till the chest of statue through lift. There are two lifts, each can carry 26 people to the top in just above half a minute.

Image credit: Photo by Paresh Pancholi from Pexels (Free for commercial use)

Image Reference: https://www.pexels.com/photo/statue-of-unity-worlds-biggest-statue-1877923/