The world’s largest seamless stainless-steel structure, Rs 179 crore Telangana Martyrs Memorial project.
The spirit of the decades-long efforts that led to the founding of India’s youngest state is slated to be symbolised by a gigantic egg-shaped edifice in Hyderabad with a reddish-yellow flame perched atop. The new Telangana Martyrs’ Memorial, a Rs 179 crore project that will soon be revealed to the public, is described as a future important tourist destination next to the historic Hussainsagar lake. It is thought to be the largest seamless stainless-steel building in the world.
The outside, which is glossy and puffy, may remind you of the “Cloud Gate,” the “Chicago Bean,” or “The Bubble” in the western Chinese city of Karamay. But according to the creators, this is an illuminated traditional clay lamp meant as a memorial to the martyrs of the struggle for secession that led to the creation of Telangana today. Only that it is five to six times larger than “Cloud Gate” with a height of 161 feet and a width of 158 feet.
On June 2, 2014, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were split apart after the secessionist movement that began in the middle of the 1960s claimed the lives of over 2,000 people. K Chandrashekar Rao severed ties with the TDP to found Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which is now known as Bharat Rashtra Samithi. This marked the beginning of the second phase of the agitation, which saw students, members of civil society, government workers, and political forces band together for a common cause. Rao became the first Chief Minister of Telangana 13 years later.
It was the fifth design presented to Chief Minister KCR, for whom the memorial is a showpiece project, according to eminent sculptor M Venkata Ramana Reddy, who also oversaw the project. People light candles or lamps to pay respect to the deceased all across the world. Around the time of the festival, I had this idea, and four other drawings had previously been turned down for a variety of reasons. Everyone came to consensus after lighting a lantern in memory of statehood martyrs, the speaker claimed.
There will be a museum, a 75-person audio-visual room, a 650-person convention centre, a café, and other tourist attractions inside the structure, including parking for 350 automobiles and 650 bikes. The stainless steel building, which is situated on a vast 3.36-acre plot of land next the new Telangana Secretariat complex, has a built-up size of 2.85 lakh square feet. In addition to the Secretariat and the NTR memorial, the kitchen and restaurant, which are situated on two levels on the terrace floor, provide a complete view of Hussainsagar and famous landmarks like the Buddha statue, Birla Mandir, and the impending 128-foot-tall Dr. B. R. Ambedkar statue.
The ‘idli sambar go back’ or ‘ghair mulki go back’ campaign of 1953 in Hyderabad, according to Ghanta Chakrapani, a professor of sociology and a veteran of the statehood movement, is where the ambitions of the people of Telangana to maintain their independence originated.
Numerous settlers from the then-Madras state and the Andhra area poured into Hyderabad during the period of military control in Hyderabad after it acceded to the Indian Union in September 1948 and up until the first elected administration took office in March 1952, posing a threat to local jobs. “During this agitation, seven students were killed by police gunfire. “Neelu nidhulu niyamakalu, which translates to water, resources, and employment, was always at the centre of the statehood movement, according to Prof. Chakrapani.
A fresh inflow of thousands of Andhra settlers into Hyderabad resulted from the linguistic reorganisation of the states, which saw the Telugu-speaking portions of Hyderabad state forcibly unite with Andhra to form Andhra Pradesh in 1956. In 10 years, the government’s failure to uphold the merger’s promises and conditions sparked a violent rebellion among students and government workers who feared losing their employment possibilities and future prospects. “It was a bloody conflict that lasted a full year. Even though the movement was brutally put down by the previous administration, Prof. Chakrapani noted that it developed intellectually and politically through the years.
Engineers employed up to 3,000 stainless steel plates weighing more than 100 tonne for the outside covering of the new martyrs memorial. These were manufactured in Dubai, incredibly precisely put together on-site, and smoothly welded together using laser technology. While the building’s 1,200 tonnes of mild steel were utilised in construction, only the internal walls and slabs were composed of concrete. The carbon steel flame at the top has been constructed in such a way that it can survive gusts as strong as 130 kmph.
In the past three years, up to 5,000 people have contributed to this effort. Reddy claimed that despite the design’s difficulties in execution, the building has no ventilation and is entirely air-conditioned. Making sure the building doesn’t heat up from the inside was difficult. While the 4-millimeter stainless steel’s bright exterior will reflect heat, the puff material and underlying GRC (fibre-reinforced concrete) panels will assist regulate the interior’s temperature.
“We are here to offer our respects in a symbolic space. As our state continues to advance and our collective ambition for an independent state was realised in 2014, it’s critical to keep in mind the hopes and aspirations that drove the movement, according to Prof. Chakrapani.