Situated at Swaraj Maidan, it has 18.81 acres in size and was constructed at an expense of 404.35 crores. 400 tonnes of steel were used to create the statue Tallest Ambedkar Statue
On Friday, January 19, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy dedicated the tallest Ambedkar statue in the world in the Vijayawada district. The government has opted to refer to it as the “Statue of Social Justice”.
An terrible episode that occurred in the Basti region of Uttar Pradesh, when a statue of the father of the Indian constitution was desecrated, added to the significance of this moment. The inauguration of the statue conveyed a strong message: Ambedkar’s prominence will only grow in spite of the abhorrent attacks on his statues.
The statue is 206 feet high and consists of a 125-foot idol of Ambedkar and an 81-foot pedestal. Situated at Swaraj Maidan, it has 18.81 acres in size and was constructed at an expense of 404.35 crores. 400 tonnes of steel were used to create the statue. Along with amenities including a food court, children’s play area, waterbodies, a musical fountain, walkways, and an experience center, the location of the enormous statue of the architect of the Constitution.
CM Jagan Mohan Reddy remarked, “This statue is a standing testimony to the social justice followed by our government in these 56 months,” in front of an outstanding crowd at the location. It stands for a social reformer and an enduring leader who altered the social, economic, and women’s histories of India over thousands of years.
Housing Minister J. Ramesh, Chief Secretary Dr. KS Jawahar Reddy, MD Lakshmi Shah, APHC chairperson Sharmila Reddy, and Special CS (Housing) Ajay Jain were among those in attendance.
The day the statue was unveiled fell on the same day as a statue honoring the father of the Indian constitution was vandalized in the Uttar Pradesh district of Basti. This conveys the notion that despite the attacks on his statues, Ambedkar’s legacy would only strengthen.
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Remarkably, at 125 feet, the adjacent state of Telangana was home to the tallest Ambedkar statue to date. On April 14, 2023, the statue was unveiled in honor of Baba Saheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar’s 132nd birthday. On October 14, in the American state of Maryland, a suburb of Washington, the tallest Ambedkar Statue outside of India was unveiled. The Supreme Court’s installation of the long-awaited Ambedkar statue, which President Draupadi Murmu dedicated on November 26, 2023, Constitution Day, was a momentous occasion nonetheless.
But before the statue was officially unveiled, a political brawl broke out between the Telugu Desham Party and the Y.S.R. Congress. The party’s backers said that Chandra Babu Naidu, the former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, had given the project 100 crores during his administration.
The 100 crore Ambedkar Park in the state capital of Amaravati was given its start in 2017 with the foundation stone set by former chief minister Chandra Babu Naidu, however the project was shelved during his term. The project was announced by Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy in 2021, and work on it began in December of the same year.
Vijayawada was selected by Jagan Mohan for the monumental project, and the statue was given the name Statue of Social Justice. He said that the name of the Statue of Social Justice will now remind people of Vijayawada, just like the Statue of Liberty does when one thinks about the United States. The second-biggest city in Andhra Pradesh, Vijayawada, is located by the banks of the Krishna River.
