Wow. WHAT. IS. THAT??!
It’s Indian Independence Day this weekend! (and so is the Pakistani one, they were basically ‘born’ at the same time, split from their mother, British India, in Aug 1947).
Happy Independence Day, friends! Here’s a ‘colossal’ post just for this occasion! A monument to an Indian independence leader, and the prime unifier of the Indian states immediately after independence, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, in gargantuan proportions!
Welcome to the Statue of Unity, the tallest statue in the world, Ekta Nagar, Gujarat, India, Jul 2024
The statue sits just beside the Narmada River, near the Narmada Dam, in the state of Gujarat. It’s a pet project of the BJP, India’s current ruling party, and the long-time ruling party of the state of Gujarat. That place is now something like a ‘theme park’ centred around the statue, complete with a new township (Ekta Nagar, meaning ‘Unity City’, on the existing Kevadia town), a spanking new railway station, 5-star hotels, food courts, a ticketing complex and information centre, theme parks – there’s a herbal medicine (Ayurvedic) botanical garden and wellness centre, a Children’s Nutrition Park (whatever that is), a zoo, a dinosaur park, boat rides on the Narmada River, and so on, and so forth. All clean, nature-loving, non-animal-harming, spiritual fun. Nothing of that modern ‘debauchery’ that you get in other tourist places.
We almost didn’t make it in time to visit. We (or more like I) thought we could just drive there from Baroda (Vadodara), drive past the statue, and take some photos from afar. But no. Private cars aren’t allowed on the roads leading to the statue, and we were told to go back to the ticketing complex, buy the tickets, and then catch a ride on the many electric buses (which comes with the ticket price) or electric vehicles from the ticketing complex. We reached just in time before the ticket counters closed. Whew, really close call, we would have gone all the way for nothing! (But this wouldn’t be the last time that I tried something like this, I never fucking learn, stubborn idiot!) Anyway, here’s BJP’s theme park for your pleasure!
The garden at the Statue of Unity complex
No, Jayden. That isn’t the Emperor of the Galactic Empire! (But it’ll be pretty cool if Star Wars actually did something like that, won’t it?)
If you read about Sardar Patel, you will know that he actually contributed tremendously to the unity of India. He was a pragmatist who could see how untenable India as a nation would be, if India remained undivided, as espoused by his leader Gandhi, due to the big divide that had already been created between the Muslims and Hindus at that time. He was therefore the prime supporter for the partitioning of India from the Hindu side (the Muslims’ leader, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, was the proposer and main driver of this idea), deviating from the stand of many of his fellow party comrades, who wanted India to remain undivided. He was also the main person to get all the princely states inside India (and there’re hundreds of them), to accede to India! That was no easy feat, OK? So, kudos sir! You deserve the big statue!
That, really is a colossal foot!
NOOOO!!!! Don’t crush me….
A view of the Narmada River and Dam from inside the statue… yeah, you can actually go up, and look out thru the windows somewhere in his chest area
Wow, what big feet you have! Statue of Unity, Gujarat, India, Jul 2024
Fancy some Gujarati dinner? We’re not very fond of Gujarati cuisine… imagine combining sweetness with red, hot, spiciness! But I like the thepla, and the puran puri from this shop was the nicest puran puri I’ve tried so far… Jalaram Khichdi Restaurant (wait, what? A khichdi restaurant? That’s like porridge. I wouldn’t go to a restaurant for porridge! I can get khichdi just fine at home, compliments of the wife! And she dishes it out with some amazing chutney), somewhere near Dabhoi, on the road to Baroda from the Statue of Unity, Gujarat
Enjoy your weekend!
