Ramanuja’s 216 feet statue Telangana
The Statue of Equality is a monument in India dedicated to the 11th-century Vaishnavaite Saint Bhagavad Ramanuja, commemorating 1000 years since his birth. It will be inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5th February, 2022.
Sri Ramanujacharya (1017 AD–1137 AD) was one of the most important influential spiritual master of the Sri Vaishnavism tradition. According to traditional belief, he has been regarded as an amsha of Lord Adhishesha. He founded the Bhakti movement on Lord Vishnu. He is also known as Sri Ramanujacharya, Udaiyavar, Yatiraja, Bhashyakarar, Godagrajar, Thiruppavai Jeeyar, Emberumanar and Lakshmana Muni.
In 2014, Sri Chinna Jeeyar came up with the idea to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of Shri Ramanuja’s teachings by building the Statue of Equality. The statue is constructed on an estimated 34 acres in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It consists of a 216 foot tall statue of Ramanuja and is surrounded by 108 Divyadesams (model temples) and includes an educational gallery. The project budget is ₹1000 crore.
The foundation stone for the Statue of Equality was laid by Chinna Jeeyar. The statue was built by Aerosun Corporation in China before being shipped to India. It is made of panchaloha, a combination of gold, silver, copper, brass and titanium. The statue relies on donations to fund its construction.
The Statue of Equality is constructed on a base building which will be 16.5 m tall. The base will contain a meditation hall where a small statue of Ramunuja made of 120 kg of gold, representing the years he lived, will be installed and will be created using panchaloha. The ground floor will be 6,000 square metre and will depict Ramanuja’s life and philosophy.
The temple will be located on the 27,870 square metre second floor with a 120 kg statue of Ramanuja, representing the years he lived, meant for daily worship. The 1,365 square metre third floor will include a Vedic digital library and research center. An Omnimax theatre featuring life stories of Ramanuja and a library of ancient Indian texts are also planned. This project has been designed by D.N.V.Prasad Sthapathy under enlightenment of H.H.Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji.
