Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Hyderabad on Saturday (February 5) to dedicate to the nation the 216-foot-tall statue of the 11th century Vaishnava saint Sri Ramanujacharya at the Chinna Jeeyar Swamy Ashram at Muchintal on the outskirts of the city.
The statue of the Vaishnava saint — called the statue of equality — is being unveiled to commemorate his 1,000th birth anniversary and celebrate his efforts to reform Hinduism. The saint was born in 1017 CE.
The Statue of Equality is made of panchaloha — an alloy of five metals namely gold, silver, copper, brass, and zinc — and is among one of the tallest metallic statues in sitting position in the world. It is mounted on a 54-foot-high base building named ‘Bhadra Vedi’, which houses a Vedic digital library and research centre, ancient Indian texts, a theatre, an educational gallery on the works of Ramanujacharya. It was conceptualised by Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamy of Sri Ramanujacharya Ashram.
The state government is making elaborate arrangements for the Prime Minister’s visit. Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao visited Chinna Jeeyar Swamy's ashram on Thursday to review arrangements. The Chief Minister also took part in the Sri Ramanuja Sahasrabdi Samaroham programme being held in the ashram from February 2 to 14.
Prior to inaugurating the statue, the Prime Minister will also kick-start the 50th anniversary celebrations of Icrisat (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics) and inaugurate two research facilities — Climate Change Research Facility on Plant Protection and Rapid Generation Advancement Facility — on the campus. The two facilities are dedicated to small farmers of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. He would also unveil a specially designed logo of Icrisat and launch a commemorative stamp issued on the occasion.
The Prime Minister will visit the Icrisat campus at Patancheru at 2.45 pm and visit Muchintal at 5 pm.
Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar held a coordination meeting with officials of various departments at BRKR Bhavan to review the arrangements for the Prime Minister’s visit. The CS directed the officials to work in coordination to make the arrangements in a fool-proof manner and make the PM's visit to the state a grand success.
He directed the police department to make adequate security arrangements, Law and order, traffic and bandobast arrangements should be made as per the Blue Book at the venues.
He directed the medical and health department to position specialist medical teams along with equipment at the venues. He directed the medical and health department secretary to ensure Covid-19 protocols during the visit of VVIP and passholders of VVIP should undergo RT-PCR tests prior to the scheduled program.
The CS also directed R&B department officials to undertake road repair works and provide sufficient lighting arrangements on the roads to be used by the convoy of the PM. He directed energy department officials to ensure uninterrupted power supply at all the places of VVIP visit. He directed collectors of Rangareddy and Sangareddy districts to coordinate the arrangements at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad and other venues with the organisers of the events.
