Those who stand tall across Bengaluru

This is part of the Karnataka Namakarana Suvarna Mahotsava celebrations organised to mark the naming of the State as ‘Karnataka’ during the tenure of the late D. Devaraj Urs. The statue, sculpted at an approximate cost of ₹21.24 crore, is 41-foot-tall including the pedestal and weighs around 31.5 tonnes.

Adding to the galaxy of statues on the premises of the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, a 25-foot-tall bronze statue of Nada Devi Bhuvaneshwari was unveiled near the western entrance of the State Secretariat by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recently.

This is part of the Karnataka Namakarana Suvarna Mahotsava celebrations organised to mark the naming of the State as ‘Karnataka’ during the tenure of the late D. Devaraj Urs. The statue, sculpted at an approximate cost of ₹21.24 crore, is 41-foot-tall including the pedestal and weighs around 31.5 tonnes.

The Vidhana Soudha premises has multiple statues of leaders, social reformers, and others already, including those of B.R. Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose, Kengal Hanumanthaiya, D. Devaraj Urs, Nadaprabhu Kempe Gowda, Basaveshwara, Mahakavi Valmiki, and Kanakadasa. While there were only a few in the past, many statues have been added as the years have gone by.

Other parts of Bengaluru too are dotted with statues, the tallest among them being that of Nadaprabhu Kempe Gowda on the international airport premises. Called the ‘Statue of Prosperity’ or ‘Pragatiya Prathime’, the mammoth statue of the founding architect of Bengaluru holding a sword stands 108 ft in height and weighs 4 tonnes.

The other statues located in the city’s busy centres include that of Swami Vivekananda, Sir M. Visvesvaraya, Kittur Rani Chennamma, Sangolli Rayananna, Chamarajendra Wadiyar, Kuvempu, and D.V. Gundappa. There are some that hark back to the colonial era such as that of Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, and Mark Cubbon.

These apart, which were installed by various State governments or public bodies, there are some which have been installed by common people and residents of localities as a mark of adoration for their favourite “heroes”. While the city has traditionally had statues of matinee idol Rajkumar in some places, in recent years, multiple statues or busts of his late son and film star Puneet Rajkumar have come up.

There are also statues of film personalities such as Vishnuvardhan and Ambareesh. A statue commonly found near autorickshaw stands is that of the late actor Shankar Nag, who has been the idol of auto drivers ever since he played the protagonist in the film Auto Raja.