Statue of Equality

Statue of Equality

Subject – History

Context –Sri Ramanuja’s statue to be unveiled by Prime Minister Modi on Feb 5.

Concept –

• The Statue of Equality is a monument in India dedicated to the 11th-century Vaishnavaite Saint Bhagavad Ramanuja, commemorating 1000 years since his birth.
• It will be inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5th February, 2022.
• The statue is constructed on an estimated 34 acres in Hyderabad, India.
• It consists of a 216 foot tall statue of Ramanuja and is surrounded by 108 Divyadesams (model temples) and includes an educational gallery.
  • The monument will be surrounded by 108 “DivyaDesams” of Sri Vaishnavite tradition (model temples) like Tirumala, Srirangam, Kanchi, Ahobhilam, Badrinath, Muktinath, Ayodhya, Brindavan, Kumbakonam and others.
  • The idols of deities and structures were constructed in the shape at the existing temples.
• The statue was built by Aerosun Corporation in China before being shipped to India.
• It is made of panchaloha, a combination of gold, silver, copper, brass and titanium.
• The statue relies on donations to fund its construction.
• It is the second largest in the world in sitting position of the saint.
• The base building, which is 16.5 metres tall, has a meditation hall where a 54-inch statue of Sri Ramanuja made of 120 kg gold, representing the years he lived, will be inaugurated by President Ramnath Kovind. The deity at the inner sanctorum is meant for daily worship by people.

Ramanuja

• Ramanuja or Ramanujacharya was an Indian philosopher, Hindu theologian, social reformer, and one of the most important exponents of the Sri Vaishnavism tradition within Hinduism.
• He was born in 1017 CE in Tamil Nadu. He was also referred to as Ilaya Perumal which means the radiant one.
• His philosophical foundations for devotionalism were influential to the Bhakti movement.
• Ramanuja’s guru was YādavaPrakāśa, a scholar who was a part of the more ancient AdvaitaVedānta monastic tradition.
  • Sri Vaishnava tradition holds that Ramanuja disagreed with his guru and the non-dualistic AdvaitaVedānta, and instead followed in the footsteps of Tamil Alvārs tradition, the scholars Nāthamuni and Yamunāchārya.
• Ramanuja is famous as the chief proponent of Vishishtadvaita sub school of Vedānta,and his disciples were likely authors of texts such as the Shatyayaniya Upanishad.
• Ramanuja himself wrote influential texts, such as bhāsya on the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita, all in Sanskrit.
• His Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism) philosophy has competed with the Dvaita (theistic dualism) philosophy of Madhvāchārya, and Advaita (non-dualism) philosophy of ĀdiShankara, together the three most influential Vedantic philosophies of the 2nd millennium.
  • Ramanuja’s philosophical foundation was qualified monism, and is called Vishishtadvaita in the Hindu tradition.
• His theories assert that there exists a plurality and distinction between Ātman (soul) and Brahman (metaphysical, ultimate reality), while he also affirmed that there is unity of all souls and that the individual soul has the potential to realize identity with the Brahman.
• After a long pilgrimage, Ramanuja settled in Shrirangam, where he organized temple worship and founded centres to disseminate his doctrine of devotion to the god Vishnu and his consort Shri (Lakshmi).

Writings

The Sri Vaisnava tradition attributes Sanskrit texts to Ramanuja –

• Vedārthasangraha(literally, “Summary” of the “Vedas meaning”),
• Sri Bhāshya (a review and commentary on the Brahma Sutras),
• Bhagavad Gita Bhāshya (a review and commentary on the Bhagavad Gita),
• minor works titled Vedāntadipa, Vedāntasāra, GadyaTrayam (which is a compilation of three texts called the Saranāgati Gadyam, Sriranga Gadyam and the Srivaikunta Gadyam), and Nitya Grantham.