Hyderabad, Jan 20 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate a 216 feet tall Statue of Equality (Statue of Ramanujacharya) here on February 5 while President Ram Nath Kovind will unveil the inner chamber 120 kg golden Ramanuja on Feb 13.

The statue is being installed as part of the 1,000th birth anniversary celebrations of the Acharya, an 11th century Bhakti saint, and a revolutionary social reformer.

The 45-acre complex housing the statue is centered at Shamshabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

The events, which will kick off from February 2 along with a 1,035 yaaga – the largest in modern history – and spiritual activities are to be conducted as part of the Sri Ramanuja Sahasrabdi ‘Samaroham’.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao will co-host the event with Sri Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swami.

Several other Chief Ministers and celebrities will grace the function.

The project was funded by donations from devotees globally. The foundation stone was laid in 2014.

The 54 feet high base building, named ‘Bhadra Vedi’, has dedicated floors for a Vedic digital library and research center, ancient Indian texts, a theater, an educational gallery and a robust multi-language audio tour detailing many works of Sri Ramanujacharya.

The inner sanctum deity of Ramanujacharya is made of 120 kg of gold to commemorate the 120 years the saint walked on this earth.

The outdoor Statue of Equality will be the world’s second tallest statue featuring a sitting posture.

It is composed of ‘panchaloha’, a combination of five metals (gold, silver, copper, brass and zinc). The complex has identical recreations of 108 Divya Desams, the 108 ornately carved Vishnu temples mentioned in the works of the Alvars, the mystic Tamil saints.

Born in 1017 in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, Ramanujacharya liberated millions from social, cultural, gender, educational and economic discrimination with the foundational conviction that every human is equal regardless of nationality, gender, race, caste or creed.

He opened the doors of temples to all people, including those subjected to extreme discrimination. He remains a timeless icon of equality for social reformists around the world.(UNI)