MYSURU: US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy's family has come up with a project to build "Mother of Earth", a spiritual centre, at his native village of Hallegere in Mandya district. Called a "symbol of unit", the project will be the first of its kind in the world as anybody from any part of the globe can connect and relate to it. The facility will come up on 12 acres of land at a cost of Rs 70 crore.
Funded by SCOPE Foundation, the project will have an 11-foot tall statue of Mother Earth to be carved out of a single piece of rock. It will be embedded with blue granite and whitestone as signs of water and waves.
Hallegere Lakshmi Narashima Murthy, father of Dr Murthy, has approached renowned sculptor Arun Yogiraj, who sculpted Subash Chandra Bose's statue, to take up the statue work. Leading architects and designers will also be roped in to implement the project. The spiritual centre will also have 64 statues of philosophers from Socrates to Swami Vivekananda.
Narashima Murthy held meetings and interacted with volunteers of the foundation spread in 13 countries. They have decided to invite former US president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama to the ground-breaking ceremony to be held by December-end.
The foundation has plans to invite Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama to lay the foundation stone of the Yoga and Meditation Sathwik Centre which will come up on eight acres of land. A walkathon to popularise the "Mother of Earth" concept will be inaugurated by Jill Biden, the first lady of the US, and Vice-President Kamala Harris in Washington DC on September 10. Similar events will be held in other cities abroad, Narashima Murthy said.
"Our family has funded several charity activities. Since the whole project needs around Rs 100 crore, we may approach some donors," he said.