Andhra Pradesh gets 206-feet tall Ambedkar's statue: Here's all you need to know

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy unveiled the tallest statue of Dr B.R. Ambedkar in Vijayawada on Friday January 19. Called as the ‘Statue of Social Justice’, it stands 206 feet from the ground and is located at Swaraj Maidan in Vijayawada.

Erected on an 81-foot tall concrete pedestal, the statue is 125-foot tall and is part of a complex which also features B R Ambedkar experience centre, a 2,000-seat convention centre, food court, children's play area, musical fountain, walkways and others, the PTI reported.

"Today, in Vijayawada we are inaugurating the statue of an immortal social reformer who changed millennia-old social, financial and women's history in our country," said Reddy, addressing a public meeting prior to the inauguration.

Reddy on Wednesday January 17 had shared a video featuring Ambedkar's statue on his social media account X.

"Presenting the ‘Statue of Social Justice’. The pride of Andhra Pradesh! Join us on the 19th of January for the unveiling of this historic monument honouring Dr. BR Ambedkar. A monument truly representative of the reformative social justice achieved in our government," Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote.

The second-tallest statue of Ambedkar is situated in neighbouring Telangana. It stands 175 feet tall.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, the project incurred a total cost of ₹404.35 crore and is spread over 18.81 acres of land. The statue has been built with 400 million tonne of steel and 120 million tonne of bronze.

The 85-foot pedestal is designed as the Kalachakra Maha Mandal from Buddhist architecture and is pink sandstone from Rajasthan, according to PTI.

The area surrounding the ‘Statue of Social Justice’, including the Swaraj Maidan, has been re-developed by the authorities. There are around six water bodies in the forecourt, three-sided peripheral water body for the pedestal building and a musical water fountain has also been built.

LED screens have been installed to display the life of Ambedkar, along with a convention centre having around 2,000 seating capacity and a food court.