India (Commonwealth Union)_ According to the ‘World Book of Records,’ the 108-feet bronze statue of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda that Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled on Friday is the first and tallest bronze statue of a city founder. It is known as the ‘Statue of Prosperity’ and was constructed to honor Kempegowda, the city’s founder, for his contribution to Bengaluru’s development.
Basavaraj Bommai, Karnataka Chief Minister, took to Twitter and posted the certificate from ‘World Book of Records’ and tweeted: “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 symbolizes his vision of a Global City”.
The 220-tonne monument has been placed at the Kempegowda International Airport. It is equipped with a 4-tonne sword. In addition to the monument, the project also includes a 23-acre historical theme park dedicated to the 16th-century chieftain, costing the government around 84 crores.
In 1537, Kempegowda, a feudal king of the former Vijayanagara Empire, established Bengaluru. He is respected, particularly among the main Vokkaliga population in Old Mysuru as well as the rest of southern Karnataka.
The statue was designed by the popular artist and Padma Bhushan award winner Ram Vanji Sutar. Sutar has also designed the ‘Statue of Unity’ in Gujarat and the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru. As a prelude to the unveiling, ‘Mruthike’ or holy mud was taken from more than 22,000 places around the state and mixed symbolically with the mud under one of the statue’s four towers. During the past two weeks, twenty-one special trucks gathered the holy mud from villages, towns, and cities across the state.
