Notes from India (9) - The Statue of Unity

Above: Statue of Unity. Kevadia, Gujarat. 14 April 2024.

Image. See TIMDT in red skirt.

The Statue of Unity, completed in 2019, is the world's tallest statue, with a height of 597 feet (Statue of Liberty, 151 feet). The statue depicts Indian statesman and independence activist Vallabhbhai Patel (1875 - 1950). Patel, a Gujarati, was a close associate of Gandhi (also a Gujarati) and Nehru in the quest for Indian independence. Patel was the first deputy prime minister and home minister of independent India. Post 1947 independence, Patel is credited as the catalyst for the political integration of India, overseeing, among others, the process of incorporating the five hundred eighty-four Indian princely states, not under direct British control, into greater India.

Seeing The Statue of Unity was a prerequisite for me making this trip to India. TravelScope India, who has excelled at facilitating numerous trips for TIMDT to India, hedged a bit, not just on the Statue of Unity, but also on Gujarat itself. "Are you sure you guys want to go there?" Gujarat is not at the top of the list of Indian tourist destinations. To be sure, there are plenty of things going on in Gujarat. The state is the economic leader of Indian states. But, as a tourist destination, it's not yet "there" yet.

The Statue of Unity is a five-hour drive south from Ahmedabad. TravelScope suggested that we drive two thirds of the distance from Ahmedabad to the statue, to Vadodara, where hotel accommodations were good, where there was a maharaja palace to see, and where we could meet up with Jayant Parikh, the artist who painted the painting we purchased in New Delhi fifty-two years ago. We would drive to The Statue of Unity the next morning, see the statue during a cooler part of the day, and then return to Ahmedabad. This trip plan worked out very well.

For me, The Statue of Unity symbolizes India's aspirational quest to become a leading global economy and world power as a democracy. In contrast, the America, as it tears down statues embodying its own foundational democratic circumstances, bears witness to the onset of civilizational decline. Opposite the oft depressing sensation of watching America question the legitimacy of its origins, I love the impression of the goal oriented, ambitious pursuit of progress I feel and see when I'm in India.

Where India erects the largest statue in the world honoring one of its founders, Portland tears down a statue of George Washington and the state of New Jersey builds statues of George Floyd, a common criminal, and of drag queens and prostitutes.

The true character of a nation can be discerned by the symbols with which it chooses to identify. In this regard, India's, forward, even if chaotic, momentum is confirmed by the grandiosity of The Statue of Unity. America is not yet wholly captured by negative and self-loathing symbols, but if the current trend of national deprecation is not reversed, look to nations like India to take America's place as avatars of democratic human progress.