The thought behind the colossal design
The project, initially unveiled in 2010, commenced construction in October 2013. On 31 October 2018, coinciding with the 143rd anniversary of Patel's birth, the statue was inaugurated.
The design of the Statue of Unity, masterminded by Indian sculptor Ram V. Sutar, was meticulously developed following a thorough study of statues honoring Patel nationwide. It is an enlarged iteration of a statue of the leader located at the Ahmedabad International Airport.
The statue incorporates Patel's traditional dhoti-clad legs and sandaled feet, resulting in a tapered base. To ensure structural stability, two 250-tonne tuned mass dampers were incorporated into the design.
The statue is engineered to withstand winds of up to 180 kilometers per hour and earthquakes registering 6.5 on the Richter scale, occurring within a depth of 10 kilometers and a radius of 12 kilometers from the statue's location.
The 182-meter height of the statue was deliberately chosen to align with the number of seats in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly, underscoring its symbolic significance.