 "Telangana Martyrs' Memorial: World's largest stainless steel structure")
Hyderabad now has the world’s largest seamless stainless-steel memorial—the Telangana Martyrs Memorial, or Amara Jyoti. Dominating the landscape for miles and close to the State Secretariat, the elliptical-shaped structure has a giant, yellow flame in carbon steel atop it. The memorial has been built as a tribute to those brave people who gave up their lives over the past five decades, or so, for the statehood of Telangana.
This international distinction didn’t come easy. Amara Jyoti has been four years in the making. Prior to this, the conceptualisation and ironing out of the logistics took two years; hence, it necessitated altogether six years.
The construction began in 2019, and it was inaugurated in June, 2023. It also took a huge amount of manpower. Over 5,000 construction labourers (approx), around 100 engineers, and 500 technicians contributed to making this memorial plan a reality.
About 4,500 stainless-steel plates, weighing over a hundred tonnes, were used for the structure, along with other materials. Finally, it cost nearly Rs 180 crore.
However, it was an investment eminently worth the cost and effort for the state government and the workforce, considering that it holds so much symbolic value.
The steady stream of visitors that are pouring in is also appreciating this monument. The crowds are getting bigger considering it is located in the central part of the city and beside the famous Hussain Sagar Lake.
The memorial is spread over a total area of 3.29 acres of land. There is a large, well-landscaped garden, and the memorial structure with its highly polished, reflective exterior stands within this green space. The built-up area of the memorial, including the garden, is about 2.88 lakh sq feet (26,800 sq metres).
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe artist-sculptor who developed the concept, designed the memorial, and also supervised the project from start to finish, K Venkata Ramana Reddy, explains that he already had exposure to many famous monuments, including memorials around the world in 80 countries, but, for the purpose of this project, visited many countries to study the kind of war memorials they had.
“I submitted five designs, of which the one you see was approved by the Telangana state government,” he reveals.
The stainless-steel material (316 L) was procured from Sweden. The 4,500 sheets were assembled into approximately 450 large plates in Dubai and shipped to Hyderabad in containers. Here, onsite, these stainless-steel plates were assembled, i.e., welded together with flawless precision and laser technology, to create a smooth, seamless exterior with a mirror-like finish. Of course, the interior walls and slabs used concrete.
Globetrotters may find the Amara Jyoti somewhat reminiscent of the famous Chicago Bean or Cloud Gate and the Bubble at Karamay in China. However, Ramana Reddy is quick to rebut the comparisons, though he does appreciate the Chicago Bean. As he points out, “The Chicago Bean or Cloud Gate is a public art project and not a memorial. Moreover, it is smaller in length, breadth, and width." The Bubble is widely considered a copy of the Chicago Bean design.
Making Amara Jyoti was a very tough task and required painstaking attention to detail, explains Ramana Reddy, reeling off more statistics. The base of the lamp, or diya, has an elliptical shape with a major axis length of 54 metres and a minor axis length of 37 meters. From the terrace, the diya rises to a height of 26 metres and is 45 metres from ground level.
The Amara Jyoti is a seven-story structure, including the cellars. The steel structure has four floors. Coming up soon are other features like a museum, convention centre, audio-video hall, cafetaria, restrooms, escalators, parking facilities, etc.
The entire memorial is a tribute. However, on the first floor, there is a stupa made of red granite stone, a dedicated space for those who want to pay homage to the martyrs by placing flowers or pausing to say a prayer.
The memorial has been built to withstand the vagaries of nature, high wind speeds, and other weather hazards, we are told.
Ramana Reddy says: “I have been an active supporter of and participant in the movement for a separate Telangana state. I designed many logos, posters, etc., for different associations and events involved in this movement.”
Then he quickly adds, “However, I am not part of any one political party. I have done work for many organisations and several political parties. I am an artist, first and last.”
The same would apply to any visitor. Irrespective of any affiliation to a political party, any state, or even country, visitors will find themselves admiring this amazing monument. The Telangana Martyrs Memorial not only pays homage to the fallen but also to excellence in art and architecture.
The writer is a journalist, photographer, translator and author of Forgotten Composers. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.
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