Amid rains and chanting of shlokas of Gita, Haryana governor Bandaru Dattatreya, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat jointly unveiled the ‘Virat Swaroop’ (universal form) of Lord Krishna at Jyotisar village in Kurukshetra to mark the beginning of the Gupt-Navratri on Thursday.
The government had roped in sculptor Ram Vanji Sutar, who has also designed the 182-metre Statue of Unity in Gujarat, for the project. The statue has been made of Ashtadhatu (an alloy of eight metals often used for casting idols in temples). The 44-ft tall statue of Lord Krishna ‘Virat Swaroop, which weighed around 35 tonnes has been installed at Jyotisar at a cost of ₹10 crore. It has been developed by Kurukshetra Development Board (KDB) and Haryana Tourism Department.
The statue will also be part of a light and sound show and will boost religious tourism and will give a new identity to the Kurukshetra and Jyotisar, authorities said. Located on the Kurukshetra-Pehowa road, around 12km from Kurukshetra, Jyotisar village is a venerated historical site where the battle of Mahabharata started. It is also the birthplace of the Bhagavad Gita as it is considered that the Bhagavad Gita sermon was delivered during the Mahabharata.