MYSURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will unveil a 9-ft tall white marble statue of Dr B R Ambedkar in front of Mysuru Town Hall on Tuesday.
Installing the ‘statue of equality’ in Mysuru city, which has marble statues of Krishnaraja Wadiyar, Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar and Chamaraja Wadiyar, is considered to be an apparent bid of the Congress government to woo dalits ahead of the 2018 Assembly polls.
Recently, Bengaluru had hosted an international conference on Ambedkar. The CM may also use this opportunity — inauguration of first life size marble statue of Ambedkar — to reach out to dalits.
The work was launched by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Minister H C Mahadevappa and V Srinivasa Prasad and the PWD Department took up the work and it was designed by department’s chief architect Uday.
The making
The authorities took more than 20 months to finish the work, but have not compromised on aesthetic sense, sources said.
Shankar Shipla School with the help of experienced workers from neighbouring Tamil Nadu built the marble gopuram and the gold-plated dome was constructed by Pankaj of Smart Creation, Chennai.
Arun Y, an artist from Mysuru, has made the 9-ft tall Ambedkar statue at a cost of Rs 60 lakh and the government has spent Rs 6 crore for the entire project. The government installed LED lighting and three CCTV cameras in the gopuram.
H C Mahadevappa told Express there is no politics in installing Ambedkar’s first ever marble statue. “It shows the commitment of the government towards the Architect of the Indian Constitution who had guided the country to the path of equality, liberty and fraternity,” he said. He said Ambedkar had dreamt of making India a welfare state.
“We decided to install his statue near Mysore Palace which houses many statues of Maharajas who had also worked hard for creating a welfare state. How can anyone call it vote bank politics? The government has come out with a legislation to increase SCP/TSP special funds based on population, introduced reservation in contracts and many welfare programmes for SC/STs,” he said.
City to get panchaloha statue of Shivarathri Rajendra Mahaswami
The city will get an 11-ft tall statue of Shivarathri Rajendra Mahaswami made of panchaloha (an alloy) at Shivarathri Rajendra Circle in front of JSS Mahavidyapeetha (JSS-M). Presently, this circle is known as Gun House.
C G Betsurmath, executive secretary of JSS-M, told reporters that on the occasion of the 102nd birth anniversary of Rajendra Mahaswami on August29, the foundation stone laying ceremony will be held. His teachings in Kannada and English will be carved on compound walls of the statue and his contributions to society will be carved in Kannada on the statue premises.
A total of Rs 3 crore will be spent on this statue, said Betsurmath. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will inaugurate the foundation laying ceremony and donations of devotees will be used to build the statue.
On August 29, Rajendra Swamiji’s statue will be taken out in a procession from JSS-M and it will pass through Sri Basaveshwara Circle, Chamaraja Double Road, Thyagaraja Road and six other roads of the city. The procession will conclude at Sri Suttur Mutt.
As part of the seer’s birth anniversary, JSS-M will feed all animals and birds of Mysore Zoo by spending Rs one lakh and it will provide scholarships for 45 students of JSS Group of Institutions who have scored good marks in various exams.