Kempegowda's bronze statue will soon be unveiled at Bengaluru airport: K'taka CM

A bronze statue - 108 feet tall and weighing 2,200 tons - of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda will soon be unveiled at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport, Bommai told reporters.

A bronze statue of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, the architect of Bengaluru city, will be unveiled soon at the Kempegowda International Airport, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai told reporters on Friday, news agency PTI reported.

The construction work of the Kempegowda statue is estimated to have cost ₹85 crore. ((The News Minute via Dailyhunt))

The statue is said to be around 108 feet tall, weighing around 220 tons, i.e. 2,20,000 kilograms. Chief Minister Bommai was at KIA to inspect the progress of the installation work of the statue after he returned from his Delhi trip. Bommai had told media on Friday that he was in Delhi to sign as one of the proposers along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leaders for the nomination papers of the NDA's candidate in the Presidential poll Droupadi Murmu.

Read: K'taka CM in Delhi for Murmu nomination, says no plan to discuss cabinet rejig

"The statue of Kempegowda is in its final stages of completion... It is the tallest statue of Kempegowda and it would be unveiled at the earliest. The area around the statue would be beautified," Bommai told reporters.

According to the PTI report, Bommai said that the statue will be unveiled along with inauguration of the international airport's Terminal-2. Bommai reportedly remembered Kempegowda as a great visionary who built Bengaluru and added that the city is growing at a rapid pace. “The Kempegowda statue will be an inspiration for all the development works undertaken by the government,” he said.

The statue, which is being constructed in a 23-acre heritage park on the airport premises, got a 4,000 kg sword which arrived at KIA from Delhi last month.

Who is Nadaprabhu Kempegowda?

Nadaprabhu Kempegowda was a close aide of the King Krishnadevaraya under the Vijayanagara empire. He provided financial assistance to build Bengaluru city and erect forts around its periphery in the late 1530s for its protection. Kempegowda is also known by the title of Chikkaraya.

He was determined to develop Bengaluru into a place of commerce and had invited many experts to the city in preparing the outline for the city building. He had built four towers meant for watching the corners of the city for danger.

Kempegowda is also known to have gifted Bengaluru with all of its present lakes as he built around 1000 lakes to cater for the needs of the people. much fewer lakes in the city now, the Jakkaraya lake, Gandhada kavalu lake, Koramangala lake, Dharmabudhi lake, Kempabudhi lake, Hebbala lake, Gidde Gowda lake and the Halasuru lake were all built by him.

Kempegowda today has an airport, a metro station, a museum, awards and many more places named after him in Bengaluru city.

(With PTI Inputs)