What is the Statue of Equality that the Prime Minister inaugurated?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Statue of Equality on 5th February. It’s a gigantic statue of the 11th century saint Sri Ramanujacharya in the outskirts of Hyderabad. Ahead of the inauguration, since 2nd February, the rituals for the dedication of the statue had already been in action, with 5000 Vedic scholars coming together to perform a ‘maha yajna’ being considered as the largest ritual sacrifice in the recent times.
As part of the inauguration, the Prime Minister visited the recreations of 108 ‘Divya Desams’ (ornately carved temples) that surround the Statue of Equality. This was followed by a 3D show on the life and teachings of Ramanujacharya. The Prime Minister was also honoured with sacred gold bracelets (‘kankanas’) that were sanctified with ‘mantras’ and later tied on his wrist.
Here’s everything we know about this highly anticipated statue.
Why is it named the Statue of Equality?
The Statue of Equality is a mammoth sized statue of Sri Ramanujacharya, the 11th century Bhakti saint, Vedic philosopher and social reformer who was a huge advocate of social equality, social justice and universal brotherhood among all sections of the society. Keeping this in mind, this statue has been named to pay tribute to him on the auspicious occasion of his 1000th birth anniversary. In fact, to celebrate this monk’s birthday, ‘Festival of Equality’ will also be held that will uphold the view that this world is but one big family, regardless of people’s nationality, race and creed. This is based on his ideal ‘vasudhaiva kutumbakam’ meaning, ‘all the universe is one family.’
The Statue of Equality has been built by taking into consideration Ramanujacharya’s social philosophy that was based on eradicating caste discrimination and embrace the entire humanity as one and equal. Apart from these, Ramanujacharya was responsible in empowering millions of ancient Indians from the social barriers of religion, education, gender, culture and economic backgrounds.
How does the Statue of Equality look?
The Statue of Equality is 216 feet high, its foundation stone was laid in the year 2014 and it was publicly proposed in 2018. It is situated in the outskirts of the city of Hyderabad in a region called Muchintal and spread across 45 acres inside the Jeeyar Integrated Vedic Academy. The statue has been designed by Chinna Jeeyar Swamy, a Vaishnava philosopher and ascetic.
Being regarded as the world’s second tallest statue featuring a seated position, right after the Buddha statue in Thailand (301 feet), the Statue of Equality is made out of a combination of five metals or ‘panchaloha’ namely gold, silver, copper, brass and zinc.
The statue is mounted on a 54 feet high base structure called ‘Bhadra Vedi’ and comprises of floors dedicated to Vedic digital library, Vedic research centre, a Vedic theatre and an educational gallery.
Ramanujacharya: Life and works
Ramanujacharya was born in 1022 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu. He was one of the founders of the Bhakti movement who inspired others to come forward and preach his ideals of Bhakti or Faith (devotion), that, in turn led to the formation of other Bhakti schools of thoughts.
Since his formative years, Ramanujacharya appealed to his fellow men to rise in union in order to protect the nature and its resources such as air, water and earth.
Ramanujacharya is revered to have composed as many as nine Vedic scriptures, popularly regarded as ‘Navaratnas’ with various commentaries on Vedic life and principles. He is also considered to have been the primary source of inspiration for ancient poets such as Kabir and Meerabai. He also advocated access to free and basic education, especially to those who were deprived of it.
Ramanujacharya is also credited to have established the correct procedures for rituals that are performed across temples in India till today, for instance, Tirumala temple in Sriranagam. Not only that, this great philosopher was also responsible for encouraging the temple authorities across the country to open their doors to everyone, regardless of their caste.
He also propagated the concept of universal salvation, i.e., devotion to God alongside developing human qualities like compassion, humility, equality and mutual respect.