Noida-based sculptor Ram Vanji Sutar — the man behind the 182-metre (600 foot) bronze statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel that was unveiled today by the PM in Gujarat to mark the birth anniversary of the leader — has created at least 50 well-known sculptures of Indian political leaders during a career spanning over 60 years.
During one of his interviews, he said he had gone through 2,000 photographs of Sardar Patel to ensure accuracy of the facial features of the world’s tallest statue.
According to L&T officials quoted in a PTI report, built at a cost of Rs 2,989 crore, this statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, also known as the Statue of Unity has been done indigenously except for the bronze cladding . It is located about 3.5 km downstream from the Sardar Sarovar Dam, on Sadhu Hill, on the bed of Narmada.
The statue was visualised as Sardar Patel walking on River Narmada towards the dam; its design took a lot of brainstorming owing to various challenges in terms of location, height and pose.
The raft construction of the structure actually begun on 19 December, 2015, and took 33 months to complete.
According to L&T officials, the iconic statue is taller than the 153-m Spring Temple Buddha in China, and almost twice the height of the world-famous Statue of Liberty in New York.
Recently, this Padma Shree and Padma Bhushan recipient was selected for the prestigious 2016 Tagore Award by the Union Ministry of Culture. City Spidey also ran a report on the same.
Noida has played a special role in his life, the artiste has confessed to City Spidey during one of his earlier interviews.
His words: “To me, Noida is home. It’s like a son I have seen grow up in front of my eyes. When we shifted from Delhi nearly three decades ago, it just had a few roads and a handful of stores. I remember we used to feel scared to go out at night. And look at it today — it has bustling markets, gigantic malls and facilities on a par with the national capital.”
Lovingly, this resident of Sector 19 had added, “Delhi fostered us, but Noida fuelled us... I eventually fell in love with this place. As I saw my sculptures take shape, I decided to stay in a city that had given me so much.”
