“Manpower without unity is not a strength unless it is harmonized and united properly, then it becomes a spiritual power”.
– (Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel)
The statement above is true to its word. Without unity, there is no strength,but with unity there is strength,there is courage and with it we can create wonders.
I am sure you all have been familiar with the famous phrase – ” United we stand, divided we fall”. Our unity is our strength and the reason we are united today and standing with confidence as one nation in front of the world is because there were people in history who had done so much so as to keep this country united and one of them,we all know about is known as the ‘Iron man of India’ , Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. And dedicated to him is a monument known as the “Statue of Unity”. With 182 metres as it’s height,it is the TALLEST statue in the world. The height of ‘182 metres’ was decided to match the number of assembly constituencies in Gujarat.
‘LOCATION’
The sky scraping,statue holds still on the top of Sadhu bet island,facing Sardar Sarovar dam on the river Narmada ,in the state of Gujarat , India.
> The charming views in it’s vicinity adds to it’s magnificence.
Out of the five zones into which the statue is divided, three of them are available for the public .The first zone includes the exhibition area and memorial garden. Up to Patel’s thighs is the second zone and viewing gallery at the height of 153 metres comprises the third zone.Rest of the zones are for the maintenance of the statue and it’s top.
‘ABOUT SARDAR PATEL’
Born on 31 October 1875 in Nadiad District Kheda, he became a successful Barrister and was a leading Congressman and a social activist as well as an excellent orator. He was close to Gandhiji and he also participated in Non cooperation movement,Civil disobedience movement and also leaded the movements in the absence of Gandhiji. He was a prominent leader in the Indian national movement for independence.He also participated in Kheda satyagraha in which he along with some of his colleagues organised tax revolts and also gave moral support to the peasants. He was leading against steep tax hikes in a famine hit Bardoli. It was the women of Bardoli who conferred Patel with the title of “Sardar” after the success of Bardoli Satyagraha Civil disobedience movement. He is well respected and admired for the unification of 562 princely states into the republic of India, which may seem an easy job now but definitely it was an ardous task to do so and that too without any bloodsheds. He was posthumously awarded with the ‘Bharat Ratna’ in 1991. Since 2014, on every year 31st October (Patel jayanti) is observed as ‘National Unity Day’.
The current prime minister and the then Cheif minister of Gujarat ‘Shri Narendra Modi’ on 7 Oct 2013 announced this project to commemorate Sardar Patel .and this project was labelled as ” Gujarat’s tribute to the nation” .
> For the collection of iron for the statue ,the Gujarat state Government asked Indian farmers to contribute their old and used farming equipments and other drives for the fund collection for the statue were also started , although most of the money was raised by Gujarat state government.
>October 31st 2018 marked the inauguration of the towering ‘statue of unity’,and since then,every year on 31st October,PM Narendra Modi visits ‘Statue of Unity’ to pay tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on the very occasion of his birth anniversary.
‘STATUE OF UNITY’ AS A MASTERPIECE OF INDIAN ENGINEERING SKILLS’
The statue which is built as a tribute to Sardar Patel is not only the tallest ,but also the quickest to be completed within just 33 months time span. The design of Indian sculptor ‘Ram V Sutar’ was finalised for the construction of statue. It was a bit challenging task to make such a huge statue ,with its base being narrow which could have cost the monument it’s stability,but it was constructed with its slender most base and which can withstand 180 km per hour wind speed and can also survive earthquakes measuring up to 6.5 on the Richter scale. Isn’t this wonderful?
I would just like to sum this up by adding PM Modi’s views about Patel ..
“Sardar Patel used Kautilya’s wisdom and Shivaji Maharaj’s bravery to achieve the great feat of uniting India after partition. He did something that was unparalleled. From Kutch to Kohima, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Sardar Patel united the country.
It is because of him that we can travel to all the great sites and meet the great people of all the states within India without a visa” –
Narendra Damodardas Modi
By Sakshi, New Delhi
