On Friday, January 19, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy inaugurated a 125-foot tall statue of BR Ambedkar in Vijayawada, built at a cost of Rs 400 crore and described as the 'Statue of Social Justice.' This statue is now recognized as the world's tallest statue of BR Ambedkar. Erected on an 81-foot tall concrete pedestal, the statue is part of a complex that includes the B R Ambedkar Experience Centre, a 2,000-seat convention centre, a food court, children's play area, musical fountain, walkways, and more, according to the news agency PTI.
"Today, in Vijayawada, we are inaugurating the statue of an immortal social reformer who changed millennia-old social, financial, and women's history in our country," said Reddy, addressing a public meeting prior to the inauguration. The Chief Minister noted that while the Statue of Liberty comes to mind when one thinks of the US, the Statue of Social Justice will now reverberate in India. The statue was made with steel framing and bronze cladding, requiring 400 MT of stainless steel and 120 MT of bronze.
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The 85-foot pedestal is designed as the Kalachakra Maha Mandal from Buddhist architecture and is made of pink sandstone from Rajasthan, as reported by PTI. The Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Department acted as the nodal agency for the project, while the AP Industries and Infrastructure Corporation Ltd was the executing agency. The project commenced on December 21, 2021.