PM Modi To Unveil 216-Foot 'Statue of Equality' Of Ramanujacharya In Hyderabad

Statue of Equality: Ramanujacharya was a 11th century saint and a social reformer. Several events to celebrate the 1,000th birth anniversary of the saint will kick off from February 2.

The statue is located in a 45-acre complex at Shamshabad (statueofequality.in)

New Delhi: A 216-foot statue of Ramanujacharya, a 11th century saint and a social reformer, will be unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Hyderabad on February 5. Called 'Statue of Equality', it is located in a 45-acre complex at Shamshabad.

The Rs 1,000-crore project was funded by donations from devotees across the world.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate the Statue of Equality to the world on February 5, 2022. It is a 216-feet-tall statue of Sri Ramanujacharya, a 11th century Bhakti saint, and a revolutionary social reformer," a press release from the organisers said on Thursday.

Several events to celebrate the 1,000th birth anniversary of the saint will kick off from February 2.

It includes 1,035 'yaaga' fire oblation, said to be the largest in modern history, and other activities like mass mantra-chanting.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will co-hosting the event with renowned spiritual guru Chinna Jeeyar Swami, the release said. The event will be attended by several other chief ministers, politicians, celebrities and actors.

The inner sanctorum deity of Ramanujacharya is made of 120 kg of gold to commemorate the 120 years the saint walked this earth. The outdoor 216-foot statue will be one of the tallest statues in a sitting posture, it said.

The statue is made of 'panchaloha', a mix of five metals - gold, silver, copper, brass and zinc.

The complex has identical recreations of 108 divya desams, the 108 ornately carved Vishnu temples mentioned in the works of the Alwars, mystic Tamil saints, the release further said.

Born in 1017 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, Ramanujacharya liberated millions from social, cultural, gender, educational and economic discrimination with the foundational conviction that every human is equal regardless of nationality, gender, race, caste or creed, a report in PTI said.

Ramanujacharya opened the doors of temples to all people, including those subjected to extreme discrimination. He remains a timeless icon of equality for social reformists around the world, it said.

"Ramanujacharya has remained a true icon of equality for 1,000 years and this project will ensure his teachings are practised for at least another 1,000 years," PTI quoted Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji as saying.

"Our mission is to make the Statue of Equality a culturally paramount destination for people across the globe and inspire everyone to make the world a more equal place to live. Today, as the world is fraught with divisiveness and populism, the need of the hour is Ramanujacharya's ideology," he said.

The foundation stone for the project was laid in 2014, the release said.

The 54-foot high base building named 'Bhadra Vedi' has dedicated floors for a Vedic digital library and research centre, ancient Indian texts, a theatre, an educational gallery and a robust multi-language audio tour detailing many works of Ramanujacharya.

Earlier during his visit, Prime Minister Modi will also kickstart the 50th Anniversary celebrations of International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). The Prime Minister will also inaugurate ICRISAT’s Climate Change Research Facility on Plant Protection and ICRISAT’s Rapid Generation Advancement Facility, according to a press release by the government.

These two facilities are dedicated to the smallholder farmers of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Prime Minister Modi will also unveil a specially designed logo of ICRISAT and launch a commemorative stamp issued on the occasion.