From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Jun 6: A biggest bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi will be unveiled in the Vidhana Soudha premises on Gandhi Jayanthi day on October 2, 2014.
The statue of the father of nation in a meditating posture and described as the biggest of its kind in the entire country would be erected in the garden between the two imposing buildings – Vidhana Soudha and Vikasa Soudha.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would be laying the foundation stone for the project in a park located between Vidhana Soudha and Vikasa Soudha on Friday.
Speaking to reporters in Bangalore on Thursday, State Legislative Council Chairman D H Shankaramurthy said a committee headed by him has decided to install the statue after over two dozen meeting in the last three years.
The statue, being designed and chiseled by renowned sculptor and Padmashree awardee Ram V Sutar, will cost Rs 11 crore.
The statue designed by Ram Sutar Creations Private Limited, Noida.
The 89-year-old sculptor Ram V Sutar is well known all over the world.
The most famous among his works is the bust of Mahatma Gandhi that he sculpted, which is instantly recognisable worldwide, and copies of it were presented by the Central Government to countries such as France, Italy, Russia and England.
The High Court had banned installation of statues within the limits of Cubbon Park.
By amending the Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) Act in 2013, the State Government had armed itself with power to take up works within the Cubbon Park that covers Vidhana Soudha, Vikasa Soudha, and Legislators’ Home.
Now, the Act transferred the land to the control of the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR), the Chairman said.
A statue of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri would also be unveiled on Friday on the secretariat premises.