Now Karnataka Will Spend Rs 2000 Crore To Build 350-Ft-Tall Statue Of 'Mother Cauvery'
India seems to be suddenly obsessed with its iconic leaders in 2018 as plethora of statues are coming up in different cities of India. On October 31, the world’s tallest ‘Statue of Unity’ was unveiled near the Sardar Sarovar dam.
An equestrian statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji is also on the cards. Meanwhile, the Nehru Museum is being renovated to make way for idols of all Indian Prime Ministers. Southern India until now was free of the statue fever. But now the Karnataka government has also felt the need to honour its leaders through a statue.
The state government has proposed a 350 feet tall statue of Mother Cauvery at the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir in Mandya district, Deccan Herald reported. In order to make sure that the statue is visible for its visitors, it will stand on a 125 feet base. Karnataka Minister, DK Shivakumar told ANI that the proposed figure will be like a tower. He said that the land already belonged to the state and no government money will be used in it.
The idea behind this figure is to reflect on the motherhood of Cauvery and the emotions of Kannadigas. The statue will depict a woman holding a pot out of which water will flow down incessantly. Water will be pumped up the sculpture to achieve this effect.
The statue proposal was approved by Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar and Tourism Minister Sa Ra Mahesh during a meeting in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Karnataka Chief Minister H.D Kumaraswamy who was elected to the CM post in May this year had allocated an initial amount of Rs 5 crore in his July budget to develop the KRS reservoir on the model of Disneyland in USA.
He further added that the global investors were keen in contributing to this project. Speaking to DH, the Tourism Minister informed that the project will work on a BOOT (Build-Own-Operate-Transfer) model and tenders would be floated in the next few months.
However, a statue is not the only thing that is coming up. The main highlight of this project will be an amusement park. There will also be many theme-based parks like the Penguin park and Aromatherapy park. A plan to set up replicas of historical monuments like Hampi, Belur and Halebid. Hotels and food courts will also be a part of the amusement park.In addition, a wax museum of inspiring leaders from the state and the country will also be constructed. The minister also clarified that the riveting Brindavan Gardens will not be disturbed.
The entire project is expected to cost around anywhere between Rs 1,200 and Rs 2,000 crore and has reportedly been conceptualized by a Jaipur-based architectural firm.
Meanwhile, a statue of J Jayalalithaa, popularly called ‘Amma’ was unveiled on Wednesday after it irked the locals earlier this year for hardly resembling the iconic leader.