Gurgaon: NHAI says it never removed statue of Drona from park
MCG officials said they have no knowledge of the statues
The statue of Guru Dronacharya, after whom the city was renamed as Gurugram ( the abode of the guru), as well those of his disciples, the Pandavas, have disappeared from the park near Rajiv Chowk, but the authorities are clueless about where they went. Some civic officials have even claimed that they “they have never seen statue at the park before”.
Although residents claim that the statues were removed to construct the underpass, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the agency constructing the underpass, has no information about the statues’ whereabouts.
According to residents, the six-foot-tall statue of Guru Dronacharya and the smaller statues of the Pandavas were placed in the park over a decade ago. According to Hindu mythology, Gurgaon area was gifted by the Pandavas to their master Guru Dronacharya as a teacher’s fee.
Ansul Gupta, a resident who works at an office in Civil Lines, said, “I have seen the statues and they were taken down and wrapped in sheets by some workers a few months ago. I believe the agency (NHAI) which is constructing the underpasses has removed them.”
Another resident, DN Mangala, who live near the park, said, “The statues were placed in the park in 1990 and were in a dilapidated condition. The civic bodies never bothered to maintained them.”
The Municipal Corporation Gurugram (MCG) officials said they are not aware of any statues in the park.
“We have not shifted any statues from any park. We have not seen any statues there,” said Sudhir Chouhan, Senior Town Planner, MCG.
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The NHAI also expressed ignorance about the issue. JS Suhag, advisor technical, NHAI, said, “We have not removed any statue from the park.”
Subject experts, however, deny that the statues had any historical importance.
“We do not have any data related to the statues at the park. The story of Guru Dronacharya and Gurgaon is a myth. There is no evidence that the city was a gift to the mythological character by his students,” said Atul Dev, coordinator, INTACH’s Gurgaon chapter.
Kripal Chand Yadav, a historian, said, “The statues might have been placed in the park recently, thus there is no information regarding them. However, historically, we do not have any confirmation that the city had any link with Guru Dronacharya.”