Gujarat: Meet the man who sculpted Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s Statue of Unity

New Delhi, Oct 28: Ram Vanji Sutar, a name synonymous with perfection, art and beauty in the world of architecture, carries the weight of over 50 monumental sculptures on his shoulders, including soon-to-be-inaugurated Sardar Vallabhbbhai Patel's Statue of Unity in Gujarat.

Ram Vanji Sutar, born 19 February 1925, is an Indian sculptor. He has created more than fifty monumental sculptures in the last forty years of his career. He is the recipient of Padma Bhushan in 2016 and Padma Shri in 1999 for his contribution in the field of arts.

Sutar was born into a poor family, on 19 February 1925, in the village of Gondur, in Dhulia district of Maharashtra. In 1952 he got married to Pramila and like him their only son Anil Sutar (born in 1957) is also a sculptor.

In 1999, he received the Padma Shri award and later in 2016 he received Padma Bhushan award from the Government of India.

In October 2018, Ram Vanji Sutar received the Tagore Award for cultural harmony of 2016.

Statue of Unity, India's ode to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and the Indian freedom struggle, will be the world's tallest statue, twice the size of the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Unity will be unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31, which also marks the 143rd birth anniversary of Sardar Patel, the Ironman of India. The world's tallest statue dedicated to independent India's first Home Minister stands at 182 metre (597 feet) tall.

The monument is touted to become one of the most important tourist places of India.