Kempegowda Statue Unveiled: Height, location, cost - All you need to know about the founder of Bengaluru

Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Statue 108 Feet Location, Kempegowda Statue Cost: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today unveiled the statue of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, the founder of Bengaluru city. PM Modi also flagged off south India's first 'Vande Bharat Express' between Mysuru and Chennai via Bengaluru. He will attend a public function and address a mass gathering later in the day.

Kempegowda Statue Height

The statue of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda is 108 feet. According to the 'World Book of Records', this is the "first and tallest bronze statue of a founder of a city." 

Kempegowda Statue Location

The statue of Kempegowda has been installed at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru.

All you need to know about Kempegowda and his statue - Key points

• Kempegowda, a feudatory ruler under the erstwhile Vijayanagara Empire founded Bengaluru in 1537.
   
• He is revered, especially by the Vokkaliga community that is dominant in Old Mysuru and other parts of southern Karnataka.
   
• The statue weighs 220 tonne and has a sword weighing 4 tonne.
   
• The statue has been designed by renowned sculptor and Padma Bhushan awardee Ram Vanji Sutar. Sutar had built the 'Statue of Unity' in Gujarat and the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Bengaluru's Vidhana Soudha.
   
• The project, besides the statue, has a heritage theme park in an area covering 23 acres dedicated to the 16th century chieftain, together costing about ₹84 crore to the government.
   
• As a precursor to the unveiling, 'Mruthike' (sacred mud) was collected from over 22,000 locations across the state, which was mixed symbolically with the mud beneath one of the four towers of the statue today.
   
• Twenty-one special vehicles collected the sacred mud, including villages, towns and cities during the last two weeks.