A visit to the Statue of Unity

Every Indian knows who was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Some of us know his role in converting a nascent Independent country that also bore the brunt of the fury of partition and left to deal with a hodgepodge of hundreds of independent princely states, some of them being as large in area and population as a few of the European countries, into a homogeneous strong united India. All this literature is available on the net and can be browsed in the comforts of your living room sipping a hot cup of coffee. But read it at the museum at this monument of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and then take the escalator to the feet of that huge statue just to get the right perspective of the greatness of his task. And appreciate, with awe, how smoothly he executed this humungous task that too within a span of hardly a year or two.

Getting There!

From Miraj, we left on Tuesday afternoon at three in our own car. Reached Pune in the evening and caught an early Wednesday morning flight to Amdavad. The Amdavad Ektanagar ( the newly habilitated town near Kevadia) Janshatabdi express is very comfortable and punctual in reaching the place. It left Amdavad at 7:55 am and reached Vadodara at 9:30 am where we picked up the pre-ordered breakfast. Yes, this train doesn’t have a pantry. It’s a good idea to pre-book breakfast on your smartphone through one of many food delivery and catering apps. The train reaches Ektanagar at 11:00 am. The vista dome coach is very comfortable and has a nice viewing deck at one end of it. But at this time of the year, there is not much greenery or scenic beauty to be appreciated.

The first day

We arrived at the Ektanagar Station and took Eeco Cab to our hotel BRG Budget stay. It is a good hotel with comfortable spacious rooms, is clean and safe. There is AC available and the food quality is very good.
We had lunch and retired there.

In the afternoon we joined our group to board buses to the statue of Unity. It is a good idea to pre-book the ticket. The website to do that is http://www.soutickets.in/#/services-venue-list on the same page you can see the attractions.
If you are travelling with someone who can’t walk or climb stairs easily I would suggest going for the express entry booking. The advantage is avoiding queues on crowdy days. Though wheelchairs are available they are not in adequate numbers and the staff on the day of our visit was not very cooperative. Also if you plan to visit the monument in the afternoon hours make sure you are adequately hydrated and wear a hat. Also, don’t forget to bring along a bottle of water. The security at the entry is strict. They don’t allow handbags or food items from outside to be taken in. Hence also make sure not to carry luggage.

We had booked a 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm viewing gallery ticket that included entry to the campus, a visit to the museum and a visit to the viewing gallery. It’s an experience in itself taking the lift up to the statue’s observation deck, which is located at a height of 153 meters (502 feet). From up there, we could see for miles around and got a bird’s eye view of the surrounding landscape. It’s a very crowded area but I could snap a few pictures of the Narmada Dam and Sardar Sarovar which are seen there. Then we took the lift down and landed in the museum.

The museum has a smaller-scale replica of the statue and a real-scale replica of the head of the statue called the Face of Unity. The memorial showcases Sardar Patel’s life and legacy, and we learnt a lot about his contributions to India’s freedom struggle. Then we took the escalator to the platform at the feet of the Statue. Just standing next to the toes gives the scale. Also, the height is apt for the towering contribution of the Iron man of India.

At 6:00 pm we walked back to the food mall. In the portico of the food mall, one can enjoy the laser light show. The laser show is good.

We left the monument at 8:00 pm and came back to the hotel.

The second day

The next day morning we took a cab to the Ferry wharf where we boarded the Ekta Cruise. It’s a cruise in the dredged and barraged water reservoir around the statue. When the boat takes you around the statue close by don’t miss the 360-degree view of the statue from different angles. The landing zone of the boats near the monument gives a very good vantage point to take photos with the statue in the backdrop. The cruise has onboard restaurants. And also has a D.J. and music.

After the cruise, we went on the jungle safari. Actually it a zoo safari. It has a lot of walking to do and the time we visited i.e. at 12 is not a great time to be there. It’s very hot. Also not recommended for the elderly and disabled because apart from walking only way of transport is through golf-karts and most bus stops are far off from points of attraction. The aviary over here is also good. After this, we were back to the hotel.

After lunch and taking some rest, we all gathered again at four in the evening and took the same Eeco cabs to Garudeshwar.
Garudeshwar has a Dattatreya temple established by Tembe Swami a great ascetic of the 19th and 20th centuries who also was a Sanskrit scholar and prolific writer. There is also the Samadhi of Tembe swami near the temple. Both these temples are on the bank of Narmada. We came across a few devotees doing the famous Narmada Parikamma here.
We returned to the hotel.

At 7:30 pm we reached Shoolpaneshwar temple and Ghat. At the riverfront, which is newly constructed, every night at 7:30 pm Narmada Aarati is performed. The Pujaris clad in red and white clothes and accompanied by a melodious singer perform the aarti in a very well-coordinated manner. It’s followed by a laser show. At 8:30 we returned back to the hotel and retired. We did this sojourn instead of the visit to the Glow garden.

The third day

The next day we hired a taxi back to Vadodara. On the way back we added a stop at NeelkanthDham, Poicha. Another temple complex on the banks of the Narmada river. From there Vadodara is a drive of hardly an hour and a half.

Summary

It’s a modern engineering marvel worth visiting.
Vadodara is the nearest big city.
Book tickets in advance and preferably express entry tickets at the Statue of Unitiy if elders or those with mobility issues are travelling. In fact, the management at the monument can make improvements in this regard.
It’s very hot in the afternoon hours. Don’t forget to get adequate shade protection and stay well hydrated.
Wishing you a happy journey there.