Karnataka’s Deputy Chief Minister has announced that the state government will build a statue of Hiriya Kempegowda, a visionary chieftain credited with the founding of Bengaluru, at the Bengaluru airport. The airport called the Kempegowda International Airport, is also named after him.
The statue is set to be made completely out of bronze, much like the Sardar Patel ‘State of Unity’ in Uttar Pradesh.
PTI reported that sculptors Ram U Sutar and Anil R Sutar would be given the contract to make the statue, who were also responsible for building the massive 597 foot tall Statue of Unity. The model for Kempegowda’s statue is ready, and will come at a cost of Rs 66 crore to the state’s exchequer.
This is the same duo who constructed the massive seated statue of Mahatma Gandhi situated on the premises between Vidhana Soudha and Vikasa Soudha in Bengaluru.
According to a press note, the Deputy Chief Minister, who also happens to be the vice-president of the Kempegowda Development Authority, said that the site and the construction of the statue would be inaugurated on June 27, which is Kempegowda’s 511th birth anniversary. The note also added that land has already been dedicated for the event.
The spokesperson for the airport has declined to comment.
It looks like the Karnataka government wants to build a statue during their term, at any cost. Previously, the government had come under public scrutiny for proposing a new statue on the outskirts of the city, close to the Bannerghatta National Park. Before that, the government tried to name a new flyover in Bengaluru’s Yelahanka after Savarkar, which had to be called off after pressure from the public and the opposition.