We had been planning to visit the 216 feet tall Statue of Equality, for quite some time, as it is the second-tallest sitting statue in the world, the first tallest being the Statue of Belief (Vishwas Swaroopam) in Nathdwara, India, which depicts Shiva in meditation and towers at 348 feet.
The statue of Equality is that of the 11th-century Indian philosopher, saint, and theologian Sri Bagavad Ramanuja Charya Swami, who lived between 1017 and 1137 CE.
The place is situated on the premises of the Chinna Jeeyar Trust at Muchintal, Ranga Reddy District, and approximately 40 km from the centre of Hyderabad city.
The Statue of Equality was built to commemorate the life, teachings, and contributions of Sri Ramanuja and stands as a great tribute to his vision of equality, devotion, and inclusivity, based on which the name Statue of Equality arose.
Finally the day arrived and we started after our breakfast, as we got closer, we could see the towering statue welcoming us .The entrance was very impressive and there were signboards guiding everyone to the parking and various blocks of the temple complex.
The timings to visit are from 10:30 am to 8 pm, and the premises are closed on Wednesdays.
It is better to go either in the morning or in the evening, ideally by 5 PM so that one can take snaps before going in, as photography is not allowed inside, at 7’O clock there is Kalyanam of the God and Goddess following which the Samatha Neerajanam (Harathi) is held every day at 7.30 pm and at 7.45 pm, the Dynamic musical water fountain (Leela Jala Neerajanam) and laser show follow and are a sight to behold with the statue and the surroundings getting beautifully illuminated with brilliant colours. Samatha Avirbhav, a self-guided audio-visual tour, guides us through the premises.
We left our footwear and mobiles at the collection counters and got tokens which I carefully preserved in my handbag. There is a strict dress code for visitors above 5 years, one has to be conservatively dressed to enter the temple complex.
It was in 2014 that the ascetic Chinna Jeeyar Swami came up with the idea of commemorating the 1000th anniversary of Ramanuja's teachings by building a statue, and DNV Prasad Sthapathi was then appointed as Chief Architect for the project. He completed all the initial drawings under the guidance of Chinna Jeeyar Swami.
The statue was built at an estimated cost of 1,000 crores, mostly collected from donations from devotees.
The foundation stone for the statue of Equality, was laid by Chinna Jeeyar Swami on 2nd May 2014. Aerosun Corporation, a Nanjing-based company built it with 700 tonnes of Panchaloha , a five-metal alloy of gold, silver, copper, brass and zinc in China and shipped it in 1600 individual pieces to India via Chennai Port in 54 shipments. Later, around 60 Chinese specialists, including workers, engineers and welders, assembled these segments on site in Muchintal, and this process took 15 months to complete. The Aerosun Corporation provided a 20-year guarantee for the golden hue of the statue.
As we went through the gate, the most impressive sight to behold was the sitting statue of Sri Ramanujacharya glistening in bright gold colour in the sunlight. The statue sat on a base building named Bhadravedi which is 16 metres tall and three-stories high.
We went up the 108 steps leading to the statue, pausing every few steps to look around us and also at the towering statue above us
There was a lotus of 8.2 metres in diameter, carried by 36 beautifully carved elephants, each offering water, over which the statue sat. The diameter of the lotus with 54 petals represents 24 Tattvas, as well as soul, the god and the guru. The statue has a concrete core, surrounded by a panchaloha sheet with a thickness varying between 10 mm and 20 mm.
The statue with its smiling face and folded hands was very impressive with a namam on the forehead and tulasi mala around the neck.
Sri Ramanuja was born at Sriperpudur village, 25 km from Chennai. He worked as a priest at Kancheepuram Varadharaja temple and then Sri Ranganathasamy temple, Srirangam. His Vishishtadvaita philosophy is highly valued. He wrote Bashyas on the Brahma Sutra and Bhagavad Gita and was instrumental in bringing Vedas to Tamil Nadu.
He travelled all over India and spread Vaishnavam. He lived about 120 years, and his body is still preserved and kept inside Sri Ranganathasamy temple at Srirangam, Trichy, in a sitting posture ever since 1137 C.E. and regular archana is being done till today which I felt is indeed a miracle.
The view from the top was spectacular, and we spent some time there in meditation.
The base building features a meditation hall where a 54-inch statue of Sri Ramanuja, made of 120 kg of gold, representing the years he lived, is installed. It also houses a Vedic digital library, research centre, ancient Indian texts, a theatre, and a gallery where Sri Ramanuja's works are presented.
As we went further, we came across the 108 Divya Desams or model temples, built in stone, surrounding the huge statue of Equality. They were all clearly demarcated and labelled and regular puja was going on in all the temples.
Each shrine was beautifully crafted in stone and followed the architectural essence of the original Divya Desams.
Even though they are smaller replicas, the attention to detail in the pillars, carvings, and sanctum designs was indeed impressive. As we walked from one temple to the other in a guided manner, we felt as if we were making an all-India temple tour .
A Divya Desam or Vaishnava Divya Desam are mentioned in the works of Alvars (mystic Tamil Saints), Divya means divine and Desam indicates place of abode or temple.
Of these 108 temples, 105 are in India,the majority 84 are in Tamil Nadu ,11 in Kerala, 2 in Andhra Pradesh,4 in Uttar Pradesh,3 in Uttarakhand and 1 in Gujarat, 1 in Nepal the Muktinath temple and the last 2 are believed to exist outside the earthly domain.
Each of the 108 Divya Desa temples contains a Saligrama statue taken from the respective Mulasthana places.
The statue was inaugurated by Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi on 5th February 2022. The then-President Sri Ramnath Kovind inaugurated the smaller golden statue inside the base building on 13 February 2022.
On our way out, we came across a huge hall with souvenir shops and a food stall , the food was reasonably priced and very tasty.
The Statue of Equality was worth its name as a world-class monument; it had positive vibes, was peaceful and was very well-maintained.
There were shuttle and wheelchair options, seating arrangements and adequate toilet facilities.
As we drove out of the campus, I could sense that the holy Saint was bidding us a fond farewell.
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