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The Buddha Statue of Hyderabad is a monolith located in India. It is the
world's tallest monolith of Gautama Buddha.
History
Hyderabad is the capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh. Between 1983
and 1989, N. T. Rama Rao served as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
During his tenure, he spent large sums to erect several statues of
people from the region's political and religious history. During his
visit to New York, he saw the Statue of Liberty and was inspired by the
efforts to restore it. He said "I wanted something like that ... That
would have been my contribution to society." |
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Rama Rao chose to depict Gautama Buddha because "he was a humanitarian
who told the whole truth to the people. It is our pride." After a long
search, he found a solid granite rock on a mountainside 40 miles outside
Hyderabad. For over a year, hundreds of labourers helped the temple
architect and builder S.M.Ganapathi Sthapati create the statue. After
five years and the expenditure of US$3 million, the statue stood at 58
feet (18 m) and weighed 350 tons, making it the world's tallest
monolithic statue of the Buddha. A concrete platform measuring 15 feet
(4.6 m), now referred to as the "Rock of Gibraltar," was constructed in
the middle of Hussain Sagar to aid in
erecting the statue. The roads of the city were also widened for this
purpose.
This statue is located at Lumbini Park in the
Hussain Sagar Island can be reached by
boat in 15 minutes.
The Accident
The government of Andhra Pradesh led by N. T. Rama Rao was ousted in
1989. By the next year, the statue was ready for erection. ABC Limited,
a local company, was given the responsibility of transferring the statue
onto the concrete platform. Using a trailer vehicle, the statue was
brought to the shore of Hussain Sagar.
On March 10, 1990, company workers shifted the statue on top of a barge.
After traveling only 100 yards (91 m), the statue tipped and fell into
the lake. The accident killed 10 people.
After a two-year salvage operation, the statue was pulled out of the
lake. On December 1, 1992, the statue was installed on the platform
successfully. In 2006, the Dalai Lama consecrated the statue after
performing a ritual.
Getting There
The nearest airport
to this attraction is
Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (IATA: HYD, ICAO: VOHS), also
known as Hyderabad International Airport, or simply RGIA.
It is an
international airport serving the metropolis of Hyderabad located at Shamshabad,
about 22 km (14 mi) south of Hyderabad.
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