In search of statues

Right in the middle

As we were leaving for Hyderabad by road, my husband and I found ourselves near the Statue of Prosperity, which the Prime Minister had recently unveiled in Bengaluru. Returning by the same route, we stopped to admire Kempegowda in all his stately splendour.

My fascination with statues derives from a film I watched in 1961. At the end of The Colossus of Rhodes, a gigantic bronze figure sways alarmingly before crashing headlong into the sea. I learned much later that the “Colossus” once existed but was destroyed in an earthquake over 2,200 years ago.

More ancient is the Great Sphinx of Giza. According to legend, the statue appeared to Prince Thutmose in a dream, urging him to clear the sand that had obscured it. Thutmose, who was promised the throne as a reward, carried out the cleaning operation and became the ruler of Egypt. My husband and I saw the famous sculpture, but the weather was too hot for us to move towards it. We greeted the Sphinx from a distance.

Closer home, but also far, was Lord Gomateshwara, at Shravanabelagola. We mistakenly believed that we could walk right up to him. On discovering that he stood on an elevated platform atop a hill, we turned back. My husband, who had recovered from a stroke, could not climb the steps. I missed the opportunity because of my aversion to exertion.

We were delighted to come across an accessible statue in the Iranian city of Shiraz. I have a photograph of myself (complete with headscarf and long, loose coat) in the company of the renowned 13th-century poet Saadi. I am drawn to likenesses of literary luminaries, and on the aforementioned trip to Hyderabad, I hoped to spot a statue of Sarojini Naidu at Golden Threshold, the Songbird’s former residence.

Unfortunately, the heritage house was closed to visitors while it was being renovated. My husband and I did, however, get a good view of the gleaming Statue of Equality.

Statues worldwide are on my bucket list, but the only one I am likely to see is in New Delhi. Growing up there, I was ignorant of imperialism and quite fond of the statue of King George V. In 1968, it made an inglorious exit from the canopy behind India Gate. I am keen to meet its replacement, the image of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, for I am always in search of statues!