Statue of Equality near Hyderabad - TeluguPeople.com News

HYDERABAD: 'Statue of Unity,' the world's tallest statue of first Union Home Minister Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel coming up on the banks of Narmada river at Vadodara in Gujarat has become the talk of the nation, Back home in Telangana, preparations are quietly on for installation of a similar statue, albeit of a lesser size on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

The statue, named as 'Statue of Equality' is that of famous Hindu saint Ramanujacharya, who propagated the Vaishnavite philosophy of Vishishtadwaita.

While Sardar Patel's statue is of 597 ft height, the statue of Ramanujacharya will be as high as 216 ft, which is taller than the Statue of Liberty in New York, which is of 151 ft height from the base to the torch. It is also more than three-and-a half times higher than the famous Buddha statue in Hussainsagar, which is just 58 ft high.

The foundation stone for the statue of Ramanujacharya will be laid on Thursday by Sri Tridandi Srimannarayana Ramanuja Chinna Jeeyar Swamy at his sprawling ashram at Sriramanagaram near Muchintal, Shamshabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

The 'Statue of Equality' is being constructed to mark the 1000th Birth Anniversary of Ramanujacharya in 2017. 'The foundation stone laying ceremony coincides with the celebrations of 105th Thiru Nakshtram of His Holiness Pedda Jeeyar Swamiji. The erection of statue will be completed in 2017 to mark the 1000th year of Ramanujacharya's appearance on this earth. It was in 1017 AD that the great saint was born,' said Swamy Harsha Vardhan, a disciple of Chinna Jeeyar Swamy.

The Statue of Equality is being built over 45 acres of land. This metallic statue will be 216 feet of height and surrounded by replicas of 108 Divya Desas, Abhimana Sthalas, inspiring incidents from the life of Ramanujacharya and more.

Swamy Harsha Vardhan says, the statue was aptly named as 'Statue of Equality' as Ramanujacharya was the first Acharya who had prove that all are equal before the Almighty. He was the one who commanded the lineage of Gurus to give mantra to all irrespective of caste, creed, race or sex, he said.

'In a world where exclusivity and secrecy to the mantra was prevailed, he is the first acharya to say that he would accept going to hell if everybody would get liberated from bondage of karma,' he says.

It is believed that Lord Venkateswara also was initiated from Ramanujacharya by taking Sankham and Chakram, along with human beings. He tirelessly worked for 120 years proving that Lord Sriman Narayana is the Ultimate redeemer from all karmic bondage to all the souls.

'He expounded Visishtadwaitha school of thought and made temples centres for Dharma. His nine scholarly works are the beacon lights for Veda and Vedanta literature. He established 74 authoritative Acharyas to spread the message of equality across the world,' the disciple said.