A huge Mahatma Gandhi statue for “Vande Gandhiyam”, a programme being organised, as part of the Gandhi Jayanthi on October 2, is getting ready at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium as artisans from Tamil Nadu are busy giving final shape to the face of the Father of the Nation. An event being organised by the Krishna district chapter of Global Gandhi Foundation, New Delhi, would attract several top politicians and people from all walks of life to commemorate the 92 years of Gandhiji's visit to Vijayawada.
The 32 feet statue, a replica of the one on the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly premises in Hyderabad, will be ready by this month-end and over 40 sculptors are working round the clock to meet the deadline. “First we will prepare the statue in clay and later use Plaster of Paris on the mould.
Then we use fibre and will cut the entire mould into pieces. We will later apply the necessary dye before fixing them with the rivets,” member of the organising committee Dandamudi Sai Baba said.
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He said the sculptors had earlier constructed Taj Mahal monument at the Swaraj Maidan.
The workers were working overtime to erect the huge bamboo structure on which the statue (sitting posture) will be placed. “Right in front of the statue a stage with 100 feet length will be built,” Mr. Baba added.
One lorry full of clay was used for giving the shape to the eight feet long head. “We will be recycling the clay for the other parts of the statue,” he added.
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As a run up to the event, several programmes will be staged on September 28 and 29 in which discussion on Gandhian values, kavi samelanam by the Krishna District Writers Association, dance ballet, rendition of patriotic songs and a programme by Ghazal Srinivas will be held.
Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, Union Ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad, and Pallam Raju and many more political leaders cutting across party lines are expected to attend the programme in which hundreds of freedom fighters, schoolchildren, college students, traders and artists will take part.