New Dronacharya statue to be installed at entry point of Gurugram

GURUGRAM: Guru Dronacharya and the five Pandava princes, his students in the Mahabharata, will soon get new statues and a new home in Gurugram.
At the third house meeting of the MCG, councillors decided to build the new statues of Guru Dronacharya, after whom the government named the city Gurugram, and his proteges. These statues are likely to be placed near Ambience Mall to serve as a mascot at the entry point to the city.

Mayor Madhu Azad said the decision was taken after old statues, kept for decades in a park, broke while being shifted to make way for an underpass. “MCG is working on the cost. Some officials told me it would cost at least Rs 3 crore to build statues of Guru Dronacharya and five Pandavas as well as beautification of the park where they will be placed,” she said.

On January 19, TOI reported the statue of mythological teacher had gone missing from a park that had been its home for at least past 30 years. The statues were foun lying in an MCG-run nursery the next day, damaged and forgotten. Guru Dronacharya’s statue had lost its left palm and right index finger, possibly during a rash shifting operation from park that had to be concretised to make way for an underpass at Rajiv Chowk on the Gurugram-Delhi Expressway.

The new statues are most likely to be placed at the entrance of Gurugram, the mayor said. “Most probably, the statues will be placed near the Ambience Mall. This is because the new statues will require more space and Rajiv Chowk doesn’t have the available space to place them,” she added.

MCG has, however, not yet identified the sculptor who will make the statues. But the height of Guru Dronacharya’s statue may be increased from the existing six feet to nine feet. The statues of the five pandavas will be of five feet each.

“The statues will be made of pure marble and will be painted. The consultants were also telling me of making the statues with fibre, which I said no to. The statues should be really strong, which can last for years,” the mayor said.