Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 5: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday unveiled the 216 feet high “Statue of Equality,” a statue of Shri Ramanujacharya in sitting position commemorating the 11th century Bhakti saint who promoted the idea of equality in all aspects of living including faith, caste and creed.
Modi unveiled the statue after taking part in the rituals at the temple premises on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Clad in devotional golden attire reflecting the colour of the statue, the prime minister sat at the prayer site before dedicating to the nation the “Statue of Equality” and then took a tour of the temple premises where replicas of 108 Vishnu temples, including Badrinath, Ayodhya, Tirumala, have been placed.
“Today is the auspicious occasion of Vasant Panchami. I pray to Ma Saraswati that the knowledge of Ramanujacharya leads the world.. . This idol will inspire the generations to come.. Ramanujacharya’s life shows there is no conflict between reforms and our tradition,” Modi said addressing the event.
The event was preceded by a political row as the Telangana chief minister KCR Rao stayed away from other functions the prime minister participated during his half-day visit to Hyderabad including the customary reception he was accorded on his arrival at the airport earlier.
The absence of the CM irked the BJP which said Rao failed to follow the protocol and “insulted the prime Minister.”
Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Union Minister for Tourism G Kishan Reddy and Telangana Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav were among the VIPs who received Modi at the airport. Sources at Pragati Bhavan, Rao’s official residence said the Chief Minister was not well as he “is suffering from fever.” A communication from the CMO had said Talasani Srinivas Yadav is nominated as the Minister-in-Waiting to receive and see off the Prime Minister during the latter’s visit to the city on Saturday.
But the Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar called it a “lame excuse” and took strong exception to Rao’s absence at the airport, saying it was ‘shameful on the part of the CM for playing truant to the visit of Modi by citing lame excuses.
“It is very much evident that the chief minister does not want to show his face to the Prime Minister, as the entire country was abhorring his filthy abuses hurled at the latter,” he said.
“Mr KCR, Is this your culture? You claim to have read 80,000 books. Is it what you have learnt from them?” he asked.
Noting that insulting the Prime Minister amounted to insulting the entire nation, Sanjay Kumar said Rao was obviously afraid of facing Modi after hurling so many abuses. His behaviour was an affront to the nation, he slammed.
Describing the Union Budget 2022-23 as a ‘golmaal budget’ that disappointed farmers, workers and common people, Rao had recently claimed that it was a “betrayal” against the people. He had also called Modi a “very short-sighted Prime Minister” as an arbitration centre for dispute resolution has been proposed to be set up in GIFT City in Gujarat in the budget though such a centre is already being established in Hyderabad, Rao had claimed.
Modi also attended the 50th anniversary of ICRISAT before reaching the temple.
Modi, however, remained unfazed despite the controversy and routinely carried out the inauguration of the statue that shows the saint in a seated position in padmasana with hands folded. The statue is made of ‘panchadhatu,’ a combination of five metals: 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-feet high base building, named ‘Bhadra Vedi’, has floors devoted to a Vedic digital library and research centre, ancient Indian texts, a theatre, an educational gallery detailing many works of Sri Ramanujacharya.
The statue has been conceptualised by Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swami of Sri Ramanujacharya Ashram who during its unveiling praised Modi for “holding the head of India and the Hindus high in front of the world.” The inauguration of the Statue of Equality is a part of the 12-day Sri Ramanuja Sahasrabdi Samaroham, the ongoing 1000th birth anniversary celebrations of Sri Ramanujacharya, the official statement said.
Addressing the gathering, Modi said “We have dwait and adwait both in this country as India is one such country where our ancient sages transcended above accepting and rejecting ideas.”