KUNST
India onhult ’s werelds grootste standbeeld
October 31, 2018 -
India onthult 's werelds grootste standbeeld in de staat Gujarat. Het gigantische “Standbeeld van Eenheid”, een eerbetoon aan Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel, een held van de Indiase onafhankelijkheidsstrijd, is 182 meter hoog, bijna twee maal zo groot als het Vrijheidsbeeld in New York
The bronze-clad statue has cost $430m and is seen as a pet project of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Patel, known as India’s “Iron Man,” has become a right-wing icon for Hindu nationalists.
Ironically, the bronze cladding for the Patel statue was shipped from China because Indian foundries lack the expertise and equipment to go this big.
The statue is being assembled by around 4,000 labourers working around the clock.
There will be a viewing gallery some 153m up, near the chest of the statue. A museum and audiovisual gallery underneath the statue will showcase Patel’s life story and his contributions to India’s independence struggle.
The Statue of Unity is not the only one that is waiting to break records. A new statue dedicated to a famous Maharashtrian warrior, Shivaji, is being built in the Arabian ocean, just off the coast of Mumbai.
Set to reach a height of 212 meters, this new statue could upstage Modi's dream project.
- Statue of Unity
- Statue of Unity: The inner story of how the giant stands tall (India Today)
- Sardar Patel’s Statue of Unity (Financial Express)
- Indias new Statue of Unity, now the worlds tallest, is four times as big as the Statue of Liberty (National Post)
- India prepares to inaugurate the worlds tallest statue (CNN)