Thiruvananthapuram: A statue of 20th century social reformer Sree Narayana Guru will be the latest addition to the list of sculptures of ...
The CPI(M)-led LDF government has decided to install a statue of Guru here, popularly known as the 'city of statues'.
A cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan yesterday decided to allot 20 cents (one cent is around 436 sq ft) of land at the green-rich observatory campus in Vellayambalam in the heart of the city.
Construction of his statute has been a long pending demand of the disciples of the Guru, who professed "one caste, one religion and one God for mankind."
Located opposite the museum campus, the allotted land would not only have the Guru's statue, but also a park around it, official sources said today.
The statue is being constructed as part of the centenary celebrations of "jathiyilla vilambaram" (We have no caste) declaration by the Guru.
Interestingly, the identified landhad once housed the statue of erstwhile Travancore queen Sethu Parvathi Bhai, the mother of last King Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma.
The marble statue of the queen was installed in a 'kalmandapam' (stone structure) there.
Built in 1930s, the statue had suffered severe damage when a group of Naxals attacked and defaced it after the elected government came to power decades ago.
Elders in the city still remember how the headless statue of the queen mother was removed from the mandapam.
Statues ranging from 'Father of the Nation' Mahathma Gandhi, iconic national leaders Subhash Chandra Bose and B R Ambedkar to erstwhileking Chithira Thirunal and royal prime ministers Sir T Madhava Rao and Velu Thampi Dalawa can be spotted in the city.
The last statue to come up in the state capital was that of poet and lyricist P Bhaskaran, which was unveiled by the Chief Minister in May this year.
-Source: News Agency
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