By Michael Gebicki
The statue of Unity - tallest statue in the world.Credit: iStock
The Statue of Unity is a 240-metre whopper located on the banks of the Narmada River in the India state of Gujarat.
That's more than twice the height of New York's Statue of Liberty.
Take away the base of both and the statue's figure is four times the height of the Green Goddess.
The Statue of Unity depicts the Indian statesman Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India's first Deputy Prime Minister.
A follower of Mahatma Gandhi, Patel was one of the most strident and effective voices in the crusade for India's independence.
Post independence in 1947, he was instrumental in persuading India's 562 princely states to join the single Union of India, and it's this achievement that gives the statue its name.
Built at a cost of US$500 million, the statue's core consists of steel and concrete beneath a façade of 3550 tonnes of bronze plates and cladding, more that 15 times the total weight of the Statue of Liberty and all manufactured in China.
More than 3000 workers and 250 engineers were employed in the statue's construction.
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