Statue of Equality
Updated: Aug 11, 2022
We all came across knowing about the Statue of Equality, which is known to be the second tallest sitting figure statue in the world with a height of 216 feet. Precisely speaking as much as the height of a line of 36 people of 6 feet height standing on top of other. This statue is popularly known as
Bhagavadh Sri Ramanuja acharya's statue. This statue is made of panchaloha metal which is a mixture of five metals and they are Gold, Silver, Copper, Zinc and Iron. It is located in Ranga Reddy District, Telangana state, India. This is around 36kms from Hyderabad. It took almost 8 years for this statue to complete and is now a popular tourist attraction spot since its inauguration on 5th February 2022.
Who is Ramanujacharya?
We all have seen Sri Ramanujacharya's pictures in famous temple sites such as Tirupati. We see him with a smiling face, bald head and in orange colour dressing holding a stick. He was born in the year 1017 and lived for 120 years until 1137. He was a devotee of Lord Vishnu and he lived serving famous temples such as Tirupathi, Melukote and Kanchi. During the rule of the Turkish and British empire in India there were a lot of assassinations of Hindu people. He fought against the kings who forced Hindu people to convert into other religions and saved many people.
He was born in Sri Perumbudur, Tamilnadu and has brought up Tamil Literature into the light of people. He is the man behind the world's tallest temple which is in Sri Rangam, Tamilnadu district and also Tirupati to build its heritage and culture which we see today. He re-established many Hindu temples and their heritage back to value which were destroyed through out India by other religion kings.
He is a man of immense knowledge about Vedas and Hindu Shasthras. In spite of being born into a Hindu family, he also studied Shasthras of Islam and Jain religions. He always believed in the fact of Humanity and service to mankind is service to god. There was a time when people fought among each other in the name of religion, caste and also the god they worship. Ramanujacharya was always against these principles and taught people that serving mankind is greater than any other service.
He is said to be the Avatar of Adisesha, who is known as the snake on which Lord Vishnu sleeps. After Lakshman and Balaram, Ramanuja is born in kaliyuga to serve human kind with his teachings.
Why is the statue called Statue of Equality?
During the 9th and 10th centuries there were a lot of religion and caste disputes among people. The lower caste people were treated very harsh. They were not even allowed to stay within the village limits. They were not allowed into temples. They were not even allowed even to have water from the well within the village limits. The kids were not allowed to schools and they couldn't read or learn.
Along with that, Women were treated just as objects. Women were not allowed to study, write or read mantra's at least. Women were only meant to stay in the kitchen and behind their partner.
Ramanujacharya stood against caste, religion and women's discrimination. He believed and taught the world that everybody is equal. He taught people that everybody lives on the same land, with the same air, and with the same body and souls inside. His teachings brought change in people's minds and lifestyle which we are having today.
In honour of the services Sri Ramanujacharya has done to this man-kind and sanathana dharma, the Government of Telangana took the initiative and made this statue and named it statue of equality.
India is known for its heritage and culture. The western countries look up to India for its diversity. This statue explains the future generations to live with equality and serves as a symbol of equality, culture and heritage of India.
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