The Statue of Unity is the world's tallest statue, with a height of 182 metres, located near Kevadia in the state of Gujarat, India. It depicts Indian statesman and independence activist Vallabhbhai Patel (1875–1950), who was the first deputy prime minister and home minister of independent India and an adherent of Mahatma Gandhi. Patel is highly respected for playing a significant role in the political integration of India. The statue is located in Gujarat on the Narmada River in the Kevadiya colony, facing the Sardar Sarovar Dam 100 kilometres (62 mi) southeast of the city of Vadodara.
Statue of Unity
Vallabhbhai Patel was one of the most prominent leaders of the Indian independence movement and responsible for the unification of 562 princely states to form the modern political boundary of India.
The Statue of Unity is an enlarged version of this statue in the Ahmedabad International Airport
Statue of Unity under construction in August 2016
Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel, commonly known as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, was an Indian independence nationalist and barrister who served as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India from 1947 to 1950. He was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress, who played a significant role in the country's struggle for independence and its political integration. In India and elsewhere, he was often called Sardar, meaning "Chief" in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Persian. He acted as the Home Minister during the political integration of India and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947.
Sardar Patel in 1949
Painting of Sardar Vallabhai Patel as deputy prime minister that appeared in the 1948 issue of Chandamama magazine.
Azad, Patel, and Gandhi at an AICC meeting in Bombay, 1940
Somnath temple ruins, 1869