Chennai: An impressive statue of the legendary Vaishnavite saint Sri Ramanujar, named “Statue of Equality,” will be installed adjacent to the Jiva Ashramam in Sriram Nagar, Samshabad, near Hyderabad, by the Jeeyar Educational Trust Vedic University to commemorate the savant’s 1,000th birth anniversary. The 216-ft high Panchaloha (five-metal) statue of the Ramanujar in sitting posture with 108 Divya Desams (stone construction) around it will grace the Sri Ram Nagar area, a few km from the Samshabad airport in Telangana State. This is meant to deliver the message of equality that has been preached by the saint,” Tridandi Srimannarayana Ramanuja Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji informed on Monday.
“The statue will be installed on the occasion of Ramanuja Sahasrabdi —1,000 years of Bhagavad Ramanuja’s incarnation. The consecration of the Statue of Equality will take place in 2017,” Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji told reporters here. This will be the largest such statue in the world and the monument would come up on 75 acres land, he added. “Initially, it was planned to erect a 1,000-foot high statue commemorating his birth anniversary, but since the airport was close by we were told not to build the statue to that height. So, we had to keep it at 216 feet,” he said. The total cost of the project would work to Rs 1,000 crore.
A gold deity of Ramanujacharya weighing 120 kg representing the number of years he lived will be installed in the Dhyana mandiram (meditation hall) besides an educational gallery built to highlight the incidents from the life of Ramanujacharya. The spiritual master was born in 1017 and lived for 120 years working for the uplift of the masses. “The Statue of Equality project is a dedication to the great icon of Equality, Sri Ramanujacharya Swamy. He created ripples in the society 1,000 years ago with his revolutionary thoughts and brought the neglected on the same platform on par with the elite when the society was gripped with social evils of untouchability and class-based discrimination. He was the first one to bring the downtrodden into temples and give the Ashtakshari Manthra to the common man, denying all odds,” the swamy emphasised.
