A Million Moments

Mighty Iron-Man of India!

Prologue

Give man a fish, he will eat for a day, teach man to fish he will eat for his life. You are wondering that looking at the title you were expecting a blog on the “Statue Of Unity” the tallest statue in the world at 182m from ground. Yes you are in the right place, first sentence is the answer to everyone who were crying out loud that the money spent on the statue could have been distributed to the poor.

Now moving on, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls welcome to the blog! For those who do not know what is Statue of Unity, it is the colossal statue of Shri Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel (1875-1950) the first Home-Minister of the independent India situated on the Sadhu island 3.2km from the Sardar Sarovar dam. He was also known as the “Iron-man” of India for his untiring effort of persuading 562 princely states and stitching the Union of India together piece by piece. Once he assumed the post, he for his home state was worried for the shortage of water for the Kutch region of state of Gujarat and some southern parts of Rajasthan as more than 90% of the water of the river Narmada was going waste by letting it meet the Arabian sea without making the best use of the available water resource. So it was his dream to construct a dam, The Sardar Sarovar Dam. He could not see his dream come true, So in 2010 the then CM of Gujarat and now honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi  made an announcement of this project. It is constructed in such a way that the statue on-looks the dam, it was done so that Sardar ji can see that his dream has come true. It was inaugurated on 31^st October 2018 by our Prime Minister.

Site Information

The project is so well planned that when you reach the site, the first check point is the ticketing counter and the Shreshta Bharat Bhavan, a 3 star hotel and parking for your vehicles. There are many food-stalls, cloak room, restrooms for your needs. Tickets are issued for 2 hour based slots, first one at 8AM and last at 4PM, tickets involve various categories, just a ride to statue costs Rs.30/-, entry ticket to museum, valley of flowers, audio visual gallery is Rs.120/- for adults and Rs.60/- is for children. The entry to viewing gallery costs Rs 350/- for adults and 200/- for children. The Express ticket involves all the above and costs Rs.1000/- you will get first preference everywhere with this express ticket. There are also luxury packages for overnight (2 days/1 night and 3 days/2 nights) stay available under the name “Tent city Narmada” project with adventure activities. Transportation is taken care by A/c buses. These buses will leave you at the entrance gate from where to the entrance of the museum, the entire path is provided with shade using tents. Cafeteria is also available to cater the needs of the tourists. Though the rates are quite high, we cannot help but use them. Ample number of washrooms also have been made available. There is also a souvenir shop where you can buy various items from pen to mugs, t-shirts, mementos and POP made busts.

First view

The feel of standing and looking at the statue is just mind-blowing and one has to experience it in person. The humongous statue appears at the line of sight a couple of kilometers before the ticketing counter and put the first smile on your face. Once you enter, you can see plush lawns, the “Wall of unity” that inscribes the various thoughts on the concept of unity. Soon from there you can begin your walk on the “Path to Unity” (What is love to call it as) you can start feeling your adrenaline start to rush through your veins. Such a beauty! You can’t help but keep lifting you head up as you reach the entrance of the museum. In the museum you will find the lifetime of Sardar ji, a bust and a scaled down model of the statue. The audio visual gallery is at the back. Then you make your way to the lift which takes you to the viewing gallery which is situated in the chest region of the statue at 153m from where you can please your eyes with the views of the Sardar Sarovar Dam and also the Narmada river valley on the other side. After having your photo sessions, you can come down and again go to lower levels one at the foot and other at the pedestal.

What time to visit?

Best time to visit as per my experience is the last slot as you even get a chance to witness the evening LASER show. Best itinerary is take the 4pm-6pm slot, reach the entrance to the statue complex from where you can take the bus to valley of flowers that takes you to the flower garden near the dam and come back to the statue complex, go straight to the viewing gallery, come down to the museum and view it peacefully. After coming out of the museum visit the pedestal level and the top level. By this time it will be time for the LASER show, reach the cafeteria grab some bite and go to the viewing gallery to witness the mesmerizing show. After the show you can leave the complex with memories captured for life! The buses will leave you back at the ticket counter or if you wish you can take your vehicle by paying the parking fees to park near the statue complex.

Future plans for the project

The statue of unity project is not yet complete, the government still has many plans for it. River bed is being leveled and they are constructing another dam 10 km away from the statue so that water is stored for boating, water-sports and amusement parks year-round. They also have plans to have a helicopter ride around the Narmada river valley.

How to reach?

If you are wondering how to reach the place, don’t worry the government has taken good care by connecting the near-by three main cities Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat. All of which are connected by flights from all major cities and some tier-2 cities under UDAN scheme. From these cities as of now there is no public transport connectivity hence taking a cab is the only option. One can also plan accordingly and explore the cities mentioned above.

I had a ball of time visiting the Statue Of Unity, I will be cherishing my first visit for a long time to come. Due to some unavoidable circumstances I could not stay back to watch the laser show and the valley of flowers. But hopefully very soon I will be going back to complete what I begun. Thank you for reading. Do check the gallery for some more photographs.