Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar will unveil a new ‘Adiyogi’ statue at the Bengaluru centre of Jaggi Vasudev’s Isha Foundation on Sunday, 15 January. The 112-feet tall Adiyogi Shiva statue will be unveiled at the ‘Sadhguru Sannidhi’ centre, situated close to Nandi Hills in Chikkaballapur district near Bengaluru. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Jaggi Vasudev will also attend the unveiling which will commence at 6 pm. The Chikkaballapur centre is the second major centre of the Isha Foundation apart from the one in Coimbatore.
The new Adiyogi statue at Chikkaballapur is modeled on the one at the Isha Foundation’s Yoga Center in Coimbatore. The bust at the Coimbatore centre is also 112-ft high and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2017. Activists and local residents had protested against the event at the time, as they questioned PM Modi’s decision to inaugurate the statue despite allegations that the Isha Yoga Center in Coimbatore was built in violation of various laws and environmental rules and regulations.
The Isha Foundation said in a statement that a 21-day ‘ratha yathra’ was taken up near Chikkaballapur ahead of the unveiling ceremony, to invite residents of villages around the Sadhguru Sannidhi in Avalagurki to the event. Ahead of the Vice President’s visit, Hindustan Times reported that a few farmers had protested the widening of roads connecting to the Isha Foundation centre, alleging that the way officials were carrying out the works was resulting in the loss of their land.
The Isha Foundation’s statement on the statue’s unveiling ceremony also said that it would be followed by a 14-minute light and sound show titled ‘Adiyogi Divya Darshanam’ mapping the statue, which will be held every evening thereafter. There will also be performances by students of Isha Samskriti, a school run by the Isha Foundation. Earlier in October 2022, CM Bommai had inaugurated a ‘naga mantapa’ at the Chikkaballapur centre.