The statue of celebrated Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar was unveiled at the State guest house, Dam Kothi, in Haridwar on Wednesday morning. It was being installed on late Tuesday night near Shankaracharya Chowk at Nehar Patri Marg.
Following opposition from members of the religious fraternity on location of the statue, it was kept at the State guest house where it was unveiled in the presence of two State Governors and a Minister from Sri lanka aside from Government officials including IAS officers in Uttarakhand hailing from Tamil Nadu and Gayatri Parivar members. The Uttarakhand Governor KK Paul and Chief Minister Harish Rawat were earlier slated to attend the statue’s unveiling but decided to skip the function considering the disagreement expressed by local members of the religious fraternity regarding the site of the statue.
The Governors of Meghalaya V Shanmuganathan and Uttar Pradesh Ram Naik offered holy Ganga water at the feet of the idol. “From Kanyakumari to Ganga, the idol shall work as the emblem of national integrity,” said Naik.
Speaking to The Pioneer, district magistrate Harbans Singh Chugh said, “After the consent comes from the Ganga Sabha and the religious fraternity, the idol would be installed soon in a public crossing or place as per directions of the Chief Minister. The function would be attended then by the Governor and the CM.”
In a statement, the State government expressed gratitude towards the BJP Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Vijay for his financial support from his Parliamentarian’s fund.
The district administration sent report to all the eminent personalities stating that the Governors and other VVIPs should not attend the programme.
The district magistrate told The Pioneer, “We had on Tuesday night itself sent our report to all the Governors not to come for programme. Governors of Punjab and Uttarakhand and the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand did not come on the basis of our report. Even the organisers have not given proper information to us. Still we will allot land for the statue soon.”
During the unveiling ceremony, Parliamentarian Tarun Vijay, State Minister of Tamil origin from Srilanka Santhil Tudaiman, Gayatri Parivar members, former Chief Secretary N Ravishankar,
State Secretary R Meenakshisundaram and Mela adhikari S Murugeshan were present.
Notably, on April 14 this year, Governor KK Paul had unveiled the plaque of Thiruvalluvar for installation in Haridwar to mark the celebrations of Tamil New Year at Raj Bhawan.
As per the sources, Tarun Vijay contributed Rs20 lakh from his local area development fund, an official release said. Speaking to The Pioneer, State Minister for housing, water supplies of Sri lanka Santhil Tudaiman said, “India is home to diverse cultures and this initiative to install the statue at Haridwar was taken so that millions of pilgrims and tourists who visit the holy city could get a glimpse of the saint poet and appreciate the poet’s message of equality and a discrimination-free society. Thiruvalluvar is not a religious leader. We must take forward his philosophy of all-embracing inclusiveness. On behalf of the people of Sri lanka, I congratulate the people of Haridwar on this.”
Notably, the raw stone which was mined from the foothills of Kolli Hills weighed 10.5 tonnes. It was carved by a 20-member team. It is 12 feet in height weighing 4.5 tonnes.
