STUNNING satellite images of the world’s tallest statue, that cost a staggering £300 million to build, boasts an impressive stature twice the size of Big Ben and can even resist earthquakes.
The Statue of Unity in Gujarat depicts Indian independence leader Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and stands at 597ft tall.
SARDAR Vallabhbhai Patel was a major Indian politician who was born in British India in 1875
He was colloquially known as the Iron Man of India after his commitment to an independent India saw him integrate 565 princely states into the newly independent country.
India gained autonomy from the British back in 1947 and he worked tirelessly alongside Gandhi as his deputy PM, to serve his country.
He was also key in orchestrating mass non-violent civil disobedience against the British Raj, and gathered peasants in Gujarat to help.
Patel was also the country’s first home minister and also a barrister in addition to an Indian independence activist prior to his political career.
A clear shot captured from space by commercial satellite network Planet shows the steel structure towering over the Narmada River.
It looks huge overseeing the Sardar Sarovar Dam, also named after him and connects Gujarat with neighbouring state Madhya Pradesh.
The reimagined Patel, who also served as deputy PM, is stood above a podium, gazed at by thousands who drive along the roads every day.
The majestic statue can even withstand winds of up to 110mph, as well as strong earthquakes that measure 6.5 on the Richter Scale, according to the Hindustan Times.
The dam he stands above is 534ft tall, with a length just shy of 4,000ft but the bronze-clad figure easily dwarfs it.
The figurine was crafted by renowned Indian sculptor Ram V. Sutar who originally submitted three designs to a team who chose the largest model.
Its bronze-cladding cast was sourced from a foundry in China and the whole sculpture cost the Gujarat government a whopping £300M to build.
The statue, which cost over a gigantic £300million, enraged locals when it was first unveiled in 2019.
Questions were raised about the price tag as well as its environmental impact.
The heads of 22 villages around the dam even wrote an open letter to PM Narendra Modi who inaugurated the figure, criticising the cost and environmental destruction caused by the statue.
He revealed the statue of one of the country’s heroes of the independence movement at the end of October and it happens to stand in his home state of Gujarat.
In a promotional video, Modi said: “This memorial to Sardar [Patel] is going to become a worldwide tourist attraction.
“See our height, measure this nation’s height. This is what we want.”
The Patel statue was built in 33 months, but not content with one giant statue, Mr Modi has already commissioned another of a warrior king in the state of Maharashtra, set to be ready by 2021.
Modi’s prediction the statue would be a huge tourist attraction appears to be coming true, so far.
The Times of India reported five years ago that 27,000 people visited and recent figures are expected to be even higher.
Despite local disapproval, Construction World reports that a local minister has plans to fork out on a pricey high-speed road to link it the nearest city Vadodara, in a bid to further boost tourism.
