Bengaluru stands tall: PM Modi unveils world's tallest bronze statue of founder Nadaprabhu Kempegowda

Bengaluru, Nov 11: Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled 108 metre long bronze statue of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, which is the 'first and tallest bronze statue of a founder of a city', as per 'World Book of Records'.

Called as the 'Statue of Prosperity', it is being built to commemorate the contribution of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, the founder of the city, towards the growth of Bengaluru.

Conceptualized and sculpted by Ram V Sutar of Statue of Unity fame, 98 tonnes of bronze and 120 tonnes of steel have gone into making this statue.

"A matter of pride for us that the Statue of Prosperity is the first and tallest bronze statue of a founder of a city as per World Book of Records. An apt tribute to Bengaluru's founder Kempegowda. Standing at 108 ft, it symbolises his vision of a Global City," Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai tweeted along with a certificate from 'World Book of Records' on Wednesday.

The statue weighing 220 tonne has been installed at the Kempegowda International Airport here. It has a sword weighing 4 tonne. The project, besides the statue, has a heritage theme park in an area covering 23 acres dedicated to the 16th century chieftain, together costing about Rs 84 crore to the government, as reported by PTI.

Kempegowda, a feudatory ruler under the erstwhile Vijayanagara Empire founded Bengaluru in 1537. He is revered, especially by the Vokkaliga community that is dominant in Old Mysuru and other parts of southern Karnataka. Renowned sculptor and Padma Bhushan awardee Ram Vanji Sutar has designed the statue.

Sutar had built the 'Statue of Unity' in Gujarat and the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Bengaluru's Vidhana Soudha. As a precursor to the unveiling, 'Mruthike' (sacred mud) was collected from over 22,000 locations across the state, which was mixed symbolically with the mud beneath one of the four towers of the statue today.

Twenty-one special vehicles collected the sacred mud, including villages, towns and cities during the last two weeks.