On Monday, a 4,000-kilogram sword arrived at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport, where it will adorn the 108-foot-tall Kempegowda statue, which is being built in a 23-acre historical park on the airport grounds.
In the presence of Karnataka Minister for Higher Education CN Ashwath Narayan, a ‘Shakti puja’ was said to have been held to welcome the 35-foot-long sword.
Former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa lay the groundwork for the project in June 2020, on the 511th birth anniversary of Kempegowda.
Kempegowda was a chieftain in the Vijayanagara Empire, and historians praise him as a just and humane ruler.
The statue will be erected on a 23-acre plot of land at the airport that will be turned into a heritage park dedicated to Kempegowda. According to the Deccan Herald, it would cost around Rs 85 crore to build and is scheduled to be finished this year. According to the report, the statue was created by Ram Vanji Suttar, a sculptor from Noida who has received the Padma Bhushan award. Suttar is also recognized for designing the Statue of Unity in Gujarat, which depicts late statesman Vallabbhai Patel, as well as the Mahatma Gandhi statue at Bengaluru’s Vidhan Soudha.
The construction of the Kempegowda statue, which is expected to cost Rs 85 crore and will commemorate Kempegowda’s life and achievements, is now underway.
Padma Bhushan-awardee Ram V Sutar, designer of Gujarat’s iconic Statue of Unity, is erecting the massive statue. He also claimed to have sculpted the Mahatma Gandhi statue at Bengaluru’s Vidhan Soudha.
