What's new

India now has the world’s tallest statue, burnished by China

https://qz.com/1445065/sardar-patels-statue-of-unity-got-a-finishing-touch-from-china/

India now has the world’s tallest statue, burnished by China
Tripti LahiriOctober 31, 2018
RTX6H06W-e1540955739709.jpg

Reuters/Amit Dave

A founding father.
It’s been eight years in the making, but finally Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s towering tribute to the independence-era leader who helped forge India into a nation is ready. The Statue of Unity, which portrays Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, is nearly 600 feet tall—about twice the size of New York’s iconic Statue of Liberty. It also has its own website—which dubs him the Bismarck of India—and Twitter account.

Modi announced his plans for the statue in 2010, when he was still chief minister of Gujarat, and its foundation was laid in 2013. During its construction, the $400 million project ran into many controversies, not least of which was how much this new landmark of Indian patriotism owes China. The bronze cladding work was contracted out by Larsen & Toubro, the engineering firm that has built the statue and surrounding complex, to Chinese foundry Jiangxi Tongqing Metal Handicrafts.

Based in southeastern China, the firm has worked on other monumental statues, mainly of the Buddha or his disciples, though nothing of this scale. The foundry couldn’t immediately be reached for more details on its work on the statue.

Larsen & Toubro, according to a person in India who was involved in the project, considered foundries globally and within India before settling on a Chinese foundry. Given the execution challenges and strict timeline, it was decided that there was “no point in experimenting with new players,” he said.

The main concern was not taking a risk with Patel’s appearance—which is well known—and risking an angry outcry. While the statue is largely made of concrete and reinforced steel, the bronze paneling was crucial to how that would turn out. Some 2,000 photos were collected from archives and other sources and shown to historians and other experts, and three replicas were made. The final replica, 30-feet tall, was sent to the foundry in China, which then cast some 6,500 bronze panels that weighed a total of 1700 metric tons (1875 tons). “Every panel formed a different part of the body part,” he said. “The face itself is 70 feet… just the intricacies of the face, the creases, require several units of panel.”

Only a limited number of Chinese workers traveled to India to help lay the cladding, he added, which accounts for less than 10% of overall materials used. In India, the “iron man’s” local workforce consisted of 300 engineers, and some 3,500 construction workers.

Indian officials have noted that the statue has toppled the previous holder of the “world’s tallest statue” title, China’s Spring Temple Buddha in Henan province. Modi, a staunch Hindu nationalist under whose rule religious fault lines have hardened, also pointed out when the project was first conceived that the Patel statue would be far taller than Brazil’s Christ the Redeemer.

Born on Oct. 31, 1875 in Gujarat, Patel worked closely with Mahatma Gandhi for independence, and was in the running to be India’s first prime minister, but that honor instead went to Jawaharlal Nehru, a fact that has long rankled with many nationalist leaders. The “unity” in the statue’s name refers to Patel’s role in convincing 565 big and small princely states to be part of the new country.

According to the person involved in the statue project, there’s a sense of relief that so far, people appear to be happy with the statue’s resemblance to the founding father. “It was a huge challenge,” he said. “If they had not liked it they would have reacted vehemently on Twitter.”
Oh even this father of indian independance statue was built by china?

Haha damn it

Choked on my tea
 
Nothing is wrong with cooperation. China-India relations do not always have to be within a conflictual context.
Exactly and Recence US conflict with china gives a clear indication why Asia needs to be cautious of the west.
 
Unlike some people here like to think, China and India should work together more, Do not be fooled, The west does not care about Indians or Chinese. They just want to pit both countries against each other. Both India and China can be allies and can achieve great results in the international realm.
 
Ridiculous. India is the 1 that feels insecure n is the stumbling block towards the realtionship between themselves. Chinese media do not mention about India at all, except the occasional news of its poverty n rapes. Instrad, it's focus is overwhelmingly on the US(associated with Taiwan n Japan) . This proves India is not being viewed like a threat, unlike the US on the other side the Pacific.

Do u feel threatened on the street by an old man limping with a walking stick ? <== Non sarcastic.

No, u only feel threatened by the big-sized swarthy fella

Thanks.
 
i don’t hate india.. i hate your mentality..with that much money you could help poor people idiot
Yeah, dumbarses like you can't look through the revenue this project can generate through tourism
 
Many of the simple idols and figurines lovingly kept in Hindu temples and reverent Hindu households across India are actually made in China. We take the simple materials gathered from the earth and fashion them into a sacred form worthy of worship and idolatry :enjoy:
So to make it simple , every time indians worship their god, they actualy worship China :woot:
 
Every state of India should have own statue.

Tiruvallluvar - Tamilnadu's Statue of Humanity - Handcrafted and made by Tamils

Sardar Patel - India's Statue of Hindi Colonial Oppression and made by Chinese
Dq0TSbuWwAIbgOP.jpg



How can Statue of Unity become a tourist spot when tourists can’t even get there?

New Delhi: India is now home to the tallest statue in the world — a 182-metre high tribute to the country’s first deputy prime minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The statue, built in Patel’s home state of Gujarat, was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi Wednesday.

Apart from paying tribute to the late leader, the statue is also meant to boost tourism. But do you know where it is and how to get there?

No easy way

There are three ways to reach the Statue of Unity by air — via Vadodara, Surat and Ahmedabad. None of them is particularly close, though — Vadodara airport is about 95 kilometres away, Surat 164 kilometres and Ahmedabad about 200 kilometres.

The Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation does run buses from Ahmedabad to Rajpipla, and you can find four options for online bookings. The journey takes about three hours by car, and more than double by bus. There are many public transport options from Rajpipla to Kevadia, and some direct options from Ahmedabad to Kevadia too, since it’s a popular weekend destination for Gujaratis.

If you choose to travel via Vadodara, the road travel time is reduced by about two hours each.

From Surat, there is an additional option of rail travel — the Navjeevan Express takes five hours and 20 minutes to reach Rajpipla.

The biggest problem right now for tourists will be to get from Kevadia to the statue itself, because there are no taxi or bus services. Tourists will have to rely on auto-rickshaw drivers, who may charge exorbitant prices. Language could also prove to be a barrier, given the tribal-dominated nature of the region.

Nita Mahadev, a resident of Rajpipla, says: “Taking a personal vehicle is the only option since there is no taxi service available.”

The Statue of Unity website mentions a bus service priced at Rs 30, but the pick-up and drop points are not mentioned. A parking option is also mentioned, but details about the facility are sketchy as yet.


Limited options for stay

The Gujarat government, in the last year, has built restaurants, golf courses and hotels in Kevadia to accommodate tourists, while another ongoing project is set to build 250 tents and a three-star hotel.

Rajpipla has very few hotels, with the only one listed online being Rajvanth Palace Resort, a heritage hotel. Better options are available only in the cities of Surat and Vadodara.
 
Yeah, dumbarses like you can't look through the revenue this project can generate through tourism
bich *** like you can spant the money on stone and don’t feed the hungry people.. damnass like you can throw the milk on stone but don’t like give that milk to their hungry people. i can expect that..
 
bich *** like you can spant the money on stone and don’t feed the hungry people.. damnass like you can throw the milk on stone but don’t like give that milk to their hungry people. i can expect that..
Now you're brokenarse is resorting to mocking religion huh...couldn't expect more from you
 

Back
Top Bottom