Monday, December 17, 2012

Road Trip Vignettes - Colourful Statues in Andhra Pradesh!!

Plusses of a road trip is the freedom it gives to enjoy the journey at your own pace. Many times we have noticed that journeys are more interesting than the actual destination itself. When these vignettes are captured on the lens, they remain cherished memories forever. We will share some of these in our blog and hope you like it.

India is a "Statue crazy" country. Every government or political party want to outdo the other when it comes to statues of the leaders in public places. We love these leaders and place them on a pedestal!!

I am not sure who started the statue culture in public places in the country. Was it British or the Indian Maharajas who wanted to please their British lords by erecting statues for any Tom, Dick and Harry till such time they were safe on their throne?

This statue culture reaches its zenith in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and in Uttar Pardesh in North India. Walk on the Marina beach in Madras (Chennai) or drive on the Necklace road around the Hussain sagar lake in Hyderabad and you will see what i mean. Then you have the big "mummy" of statue building in Uttar Pradesh when Ms Mayavati  went around erecting elephants and other statues in every nook and corner.

We found this interesting scene while driving through Andhra Pradesh in 2010 on the way to Chhattisgarh. We crossed Vizianagaram and were halted by this spectacle of life size statues of late Chief Minister Sri Y S R Reddy who was killed in an air cash few years back. These statues of the leader in different costumes and colours were ready to shipped  to different parts of the state. 

Take a look.


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