Inspired by the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's Statue of Unity in Gujarat, the Karnataka government has proposed a statue of Swami Vivekananda that will come up near the Muthyala Maduvu water body in Jigani on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
Housing Minister V Somanna announced Saturday that the Vivekananda statue will be 120-feet tall.
“The idea is inspired by the basic element of the Sardar Patel statue situated on a water body. The statue has been able to augment tourism. We wanted to take up a similar initiative in the interest of tourism," Somanna told DH.
The Vivekananda statue is part of the Karnataka Housing Board's (KHB) plan to develop Muthyala Maduvu as a tourist destination. "There's water there. We'll have waterfalls. It's very nice," Somanna said. "People come to the Bannerghatta National Park. This place is about 10-12 kms from the national park. Tourists who come there, can visit this statue, too," he said.
The statue will be housed on a three-acre plot as part of the Prime Minister's Township the KHB is developing under the Surya Nagar 4th phase residential scheme. "The PM Township will span 1,900 acres of which the Housing department has already received possession of 780 acres. The land is on a 50:50 sharing basis, which means half of the sites will be given to farmers. Totally, we've decided to develop 30,000 sites," the minister said.
Although the cost of the proposed statue is yet to be finalised, preliminary work has begun and a basic idea of the requisite architecture is already in place, Somanna said. "The work is likely to be completed in a year’s time. We will commence it at the earliest.”
The Vivekananda statue is just one among many. At Harobele in Ramanagara, a private organisation has proposed a 101-feet tall statue of Jesus Christ.
The government has planned a 100-feet high bronze statue of Bengaluru founder Kempegowda that will be erected near the city's airport at Devanahalli at a cost of Rs 66 crore. Also, the government has earmarked Rs 20 crore for a 325-feet bronze statue of Basavanna that the Murugha Mutt in Chitradurga is constructing.
The previous Congress-JD(S) coalition had proposed a 350-feet tower at the KRS dam in Mysuru that was to be shaped like a woman holding a tipped pot out of which water would pour out continuously.