The World famous Marathi Sculptor Ram Vanji Sutar, is the man behind creating the tallest statue in the world. 182-metre bronze Statue of Unity of India’s first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was unveiled by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gujarat on Wednesday. On the occasion PM Modi felicitated Ram Sutar and mentioned him, his son Anil Sutar (61) and grandson Sameer (30) in his speech. Ram Sutar has built this statue with the help of Larsen & Toubro Company in a 33-month record break time. The statue is twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty in New York. The statue is filled with 1700 ton bronze, steel mold, iron and concrete material.
Although Ram Sutar has made many notable creatures in past, but creating this statue was a big challenge. He had stayed in China to make the various parts of the statue. Connecting his traditional art with modern technology, Sutar has taken his talent worldwide. Now his son, Anil Sutar also joined him after taking degree in the sculpture art. Now his grandson Sameer has also taken art education and has started helping grandfather and father. From 1959, living in Delhi, Sutar family’s three generations are creating wonders of sculpture art worldwide.
The face is of 70 feet
Out of 597 feet height of Sardar Patel’s statue, the face is of 70 feet tall, and it was one of the most difficult task create the face. “We were working on this face for three consecutive months. When the face was getting ready; every time we used to inspect it from the 500 feet distance whether it is perfect or not. We used to take at-least 15 such rounds from 500 feet to see every corner of the face neatly. We wanted to have the satisfaction as an artist by putting all expressions of this great iron man. Today, when seeing the statue from 500 feet, Sardar Patel’s face looks very alive from the edge of Narmada River, we get the satisfaction, said Ram Sutar.
Created 350 statues Worldwide
From 1959 till now, Ram Sutar has created 350 statues in various cities worldwide including Delhi, Russia, Europe, America etc. 16 statues of Political leaders in the Parliament area in Delhi have been created by Sutar. There are 500 statues in Lucknow alone, which include statues of Ambedkar, Mahatma Phule, Kanshiram and Mayawati. This includes 350 statues of trees, animals and birds in Lucknow garden.
Upcoming major projects
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue to be built in the Arabian Sea and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s statue in Mumbai’s Indu Mill will also be created by Ram Sutar. The work has already started for the statue of Ambedkar which will be of 250 feet tall. The work of Shivaji Maharaj’s statue has not started yet but raising it in the sea will be a big challenge to all of us, said Anil Sutar.
Features of Patel’s statue
- A statue of 597 feet has been erected on the sadhu island near Garudeshwar dam in Narmada district of Gujarat. The base of this statue is 240 meters high, 790 feet high.
- The statue is tall than the Buddha statue (153 meters) in the Vasant temple of China and it is twice the height of the Statue of Liberty. It took 11 years to develop a Buddha idol in China. However, Patel’s statue was raised in 33 months only.
- An amount of Rs 2,898 crore was spent on setting up this statue. The Larsen & Toubro Company built it; the statue is a great piece of work of Indian Engineering Skills and Project Management by.
There is a lift to reach to the memorial. The statue has been divided into three levels. This includes floor, balcony and terrace for exhibition. The terrace has a memorial park, a magnificent museum and exhibition hall which has information and photographs of Sardar Patel’s life and contribution he made. A 500-foot deck is also constructed from the river. 200 people from here can see statues at the same time. A boat has been arranged to reach the statue.
“It is an extremely proud thing for me that the world’s tallest statue being built by me. In the last 4 years, I had a very clear vision to create the statue without compromising on any single thing. The feelings I have as an artist, cannot be expressed in words.”
-Ram Sutar, World Famous Sculptor
