A grand statue of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar stands in the [old] Parliament House of India, which is considered one of the most important statues of Babasaheb in the world. In this article, we are going to know about the features and history of this Dr Ambedkar statue in the Parliament complex.
There is no other Indian who has more statues of Dr. Ambedkar around the country. With the exception of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar is the most revered figure in India. He is immensely popular in Indian society and politics and his legacy is significant.
Dr Ambedkar and the Parliament
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was an advocate of parliamentary democracy. He was a member of both houses of the Parliament of India, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. He served as the first Law and Justice Minister of independent India. He played the most important role in the Constituent Assembly of India and drafted the largest constitution in the world. Because of this, he is considered as the architect of the Indian Constitution and the father of modern India. Babasaheb served simultaneously as a member of the Constituent Assembly, a member of the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister in the Parliament House of India, where his monumental statue was erected 10 years later.
A 12-foot (3.66 m) tall bronze Statue of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar located in the premises of the [old] Parliament House of India in New Delhi. It was inaugurated in 1967, and has become prestigious as the most important site to pay tribute to Babasaheb by the President, Vice President, Prime Minister and members of the Indian Parliament.
Dr Ambedkar statue at the Parliament building
The total height of this Babasaheb’s statue is about 25 feet. This statue is one of the Ambedkar statues installed at the most important places in the world.
Before the statue unveiling, Buddhist monks of Sri Lanka and Sanchi gave Panchsheel Diksha to Yashwant Ambedkar, Dadasaheb Gaikwad and other Buddhists.
The statue of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in the Parliament of India, was unveiled by the then President of India, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on April 2, 1967. Slogans like Jai Bhim and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar ki Jai were raised. On the occasion, President Dr. Radhakrishnan said, “Continue to acquire knowledge, search for truth and make every effort to put it into practice, this is the message given by Dr. Ambedkar to Indians.”
The President further said, “Dr. Ambedkar had great faith in the democratic system. He believed that it was possible to bring revolutionary change in the society without bloodshed. His belief was not baseless, which is proved by many incidents that happened in India. His emphasis was on national unity. His view was that as long as there remains discrimination like Hindus, Muslims, Sindhis and Tamils in India, India will not progress.”
After the speech of the President, Chairman of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Memorial Committee and Home Minister of India Yashwantrao Chavan, and Lok Sabha Speaker Neelam Sanjeev Reddy also expressed their views, in which they praised Babasaheb with many adjectives.
Vice President Zakir Husain, Deputy Prime Minister Morarji Desai, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Memorial Committee’s Chairman and Home Minister Yashwantrao Chavan, Lok Sabha Speaker Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, RPI leader Dadasaheb Gaikwad, Dr. Ambedkar’s son Yashwant Ambedkar, Humayun Kabir and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
Features of the Ambedkar statue
The statue of Dr. Ambedkar is 12 feet tall, standing on a 12 feet high base, thus the total height of this statue with base is 7.32 metres (24 ft). This statue is roughly four times the size of the original size of the man.
The statue made of bronze metal and its weight is 1.5 ton.
The statue of Ambedkar at the Parliament building shows him holding the Constitution of India. His right hand is fully lifted and his index finger pointing the Indian Parliament House.
Perhaps, the most popular image of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is that of him holding the Constitution of India under his arm. He was never photographed in the act, yet this image can be found everywhere and takes multiple forms such as posters, stamps, holograms or statues.
The statue of Babasaheb is installed at gate number three of the Parliament House. In the statue. This statue was built by the Ambedkarite community by collecting funds from the public. The statue was donated by “Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Memorial Committee” to the Parliament House.
The statue was sculptured by Brahmesh Vinayak Wagh, an architect from Mumbai. In order to make it, BR Ambedkar’s wife, Dr Savita Ambedkar, rendered all help to Brahmesh Wagh. She provided all the material from Babasaheb’s feet to the head. This statue is ready after two years of work. Before that Brahmesh Wagh made was Ambedkar’s first statue on the Coopregation Road in Mumbai, Maharashtra in 1959.
Motilal Nehru’s statue was first installed in the Parliament House complex. After that, the second statue to be installed in the Parliament House complex is that of Ambedkar. After these two, statues of many great Indians were installed in the Parliament complex.
- Source – Rajya Sabha
Dr Ambedkar’s mural in New Parliament House
India’s new Parliament building was dedicated to the nation on May 2023. The new parliament building has a massive mural featuring Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. This mural is depicting the ideology of ‘Ek Bharat, Sreshth Bharat’. It is a spherical 25 ft tall mural and is located on one of the three mandapams where the Ashwa Dwar – the main entry of all the dignitaries – is situated.
There is also a demand to install a statue of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in front of the new Parliament House of India.
Also read
- Dr Ambedkar statue in the Supreme Court (in Hindi)
- The Statue of Social Justice in Vijayawada
- 125-ft tall Dr. Ambedkar statue in Hyderabad
- Top 10 tallest statue in India
- List of Ambedkar’s statues Outside India (in Hindi)
- Dr BR Ambedkar statues in Vietnam
- Top 3 Tallest Statues of Dr Ambedkar (in Hindi)
- The 10 Ambedkar’s statues in Delhi (in Hindi)
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