Statue of Equality (Ramanuja)


The Statue of Equality is a monument dedicated to the 11th-century Vaishnavaite Saint Bhagavad Ramanuja, commemorating 1000 years since his birth. It is scheduled to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019.

Background

In 2014, Sri Chinna Jeeyar came up with the idea to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of Sri Ramanuja's teachings by building the Statue of Equality. The statue is constructed on an estimated 34 acres in Hyderabad, India. It consists of a 216 foot tall statue of Ramanuja and is surrounded by 108 Divyadesams and includes an educational gallery. The project budget is 1000 crore rupees.
The foundation stone for the Statue of Equality was laid by Chinna Jeeyar. The statue was built by Aerosun Corporation in China before being shipped to India. It is made of panchaloha, a combination of gold, silver, copper, brass and titanium. The statue relies on donations to fund its construction.

Design

The Statue of Equality is constructed on a base building which will be 54 feet tall. The base will contain a meditation hall where a small statue of Ramunuja made of 120 kg of gold, representing the years he lived, will be installed and will be created using panchaloha. The ground floor will be 63,444 square feet and will depict Ramanuja's life and philosophy. The temple will be located on the 30,0000 square foot second floor with a 120 kg statue of Ramanuja, representing the years he lived, meant for daily worship. The 14,700 square foot third floor will include a Vedic digital library and research center. An Omnimax theatre featuring life stories of Ramanuja and a library of ancient Indian texts are also planned. This project has been designed by under enlightenment of H.H.Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji.