‘Iron Man of India’ statue to see off Chinese rival & set record as world's tallest (PHOTOS)
Measuring a colossal 182 meters (600ft) tall and costing an estimated 29.9 billion rupees ($430m) to construct, India’s ‘Statue of Unity’ is set to become the world’s largest statue, seizing the accolade from China.
The humongous statue is a tribute to a leading figure in the Indian independence struggle in the early 20th century, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. “Every Indian regrets Sardar Patel did not become the first prime minister,” Premier Narendra Modi said previously, as cited by Reuters.
Patel, dubbed the ‘Iron Man of India,’ was born in the western Indian state of Gujarat, and became a cult figure in Indian history for his role in uniting warring states in India to work together for independence from Britain. He would also become the de facto supreme commander of the Indian armed forces during the Indo-Pakistani War in 1947.
The statue will overtake the Spring Temple Buddha statue in China, which stands at an impressive 128 meters in height, and utterly dwarf the Statue of Liberty, 46 meters tall.
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Construction work on the statue began back in 2013 and it is due to be inaugurated by Modi on October 31, 2018.
The bronze-clad statue is located roughly 250km from the Gujarat state capital, Allahabad in western India. It will also boast a viewing platform 153 metres up.
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