206-feet Ambedkar statue unveiled in Vijayawada

Vijayawada, Jan 19: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday unveiled the 206-feet tall statue of BR Ambedkar at the Swaraj Maidan here on Friday.

The Chief Minister inaugurated the statue by launching the laser show that illuminated it like an umbrella of fireworks amid wide applause by tens of thousands of people who thronged the ground. The dazzling 125-feet bronze statue was installed on an 81-feet pedestal made with the Kala Chakra Maha Mandala Buddhist architecture to make it attractive in its sky high posture.

As the Chief Minister launched the laser show unveiling the statue, crowds greeted and cheered.

The giant statue installed in an extent of sprawling 18.18 acres with an expenditure of Rs 404.35 crore is the first of its kind in the world as the precincts consists of a musical fountain, 2,000-capacity convention centre, food court, walking track and children's area.

The Ambedkar Smruthi Vanam also consists of a detailed Ambedkar experience section that depicts the life and times of the visionary.

The pedestal consists of ground plus two floors with the ground floor having four halls, with one of them being a cinema hall and the rest having digital museums detailing Ambedkar's life.

While one of the four halls in the first floor is dedicated to display Ambedkar's attachment with South India, two of them would be dedicated for museum and the fourth one would be utilised as library.

The four halls in the second floor are being proposed to be used as libraries.

The entire premises was spruced up with beautiful flower plants and attractive marble-made pathways by Delhi designers.