Visit to Statue of Unity, Exhibition Hall/ Museum and Wall of Unity
The Statue of Unity is the world’s tallest statue with a height of 182 metres.
A huge exhibition hall covering an area of 4,647 square metres has been set up in the pedestal of the Statue of Unity. The hall showcases the life of Sardar Patel, his contributions to the Freedom Movement against British rule and his role in the merger of princely states. The Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, the life and culture of the tribal people of Gujarat and the Sardar Sarovar Dam are also displayed through an Audio-Visual show.
A nation-wide campaign was initiated to collect soil from farmers towards this tribute to the extraordinary leader of India, who was born in a farmer’s family and had led several successful campaigns for farmers’ rights during India’s freedom struggle. Soil from around 169,058 villages was collected to build a wall (Wall of Unity, measuring 36 feet x 12 feet) which symbolises unity in diversity.
Laser Light and Sound Show
A Light and Sound show using laser technology projected on the Statue of Unity takes place every evening except Monday. The colourful laser lighting system is accompanied by an excellent narration of the history and life of Sardar Patel, his contribution to the Independence Movement and the unification of India as one nation.
Tour of Valley of Flowers
The Valley of Flowers is spread across 600 acres with a length of 6 kilometre from Vindhyachal and 11 kilometre on Satpuda side. The Valley of Flower began with 48,000 plants in 2016 and has now reached upto 2,400,000 plants. There are five unique creations at the valley in the form of thematic parks-gardens namely: Garden of Senses & Panchatatva Garden, Green Energy & Upcycling Park, Sardar Park, Butterfly Garden and Adventure Park.
Besides the parks, several photo booths and selfie points have been developed to take back memories of the visit. Two beautifully located lotus ponds enhance the visitor experience.
Tour of Sardar Sarovar Dam and its dykes
Sardar Sarovar Dam The Sardar Sarovar Dam is the third highest concrete dam (163 metres) in India after Bhakra (226 metres) in Himachal Pradesh and Lakhwar (192 metres) in Uttar Pradesh. In terms of volume of concrete involved for gravity dams, this dam is ranked as the second largest in the world with an aggregate volume of 6.82 million cubic metre; only after Grand Coulee Dam in the USA with a total volume of 8.0 million cubic metre being the largest. This dam, with its spillway discharging capacity of 85,000 cubic metre per second (3 million cubic foot per second), stands third in the world, Gazenba (113,000 cubic metre per second) in China and Tucurri (100,000 cubic metre per second) in Brazil being the first two.
The reservoir occupies an area of 37,000 hectares and has linear stretch of 214 kilometre of water and an average width of 1.77 kilometre. The Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of the Sardar Sarovar Dam is fixed at RL 138.68 metres (455 feet).
The River Bed Power House is an underground power house stationed on the right bank of the river located about 165 metres downstream of the dam. It has six Francis type reversible turbine generators with 200 MegaWatt installed capacity each.
The Godbole Gate releases water from the Sardar Sarovar Dam back to the river Narmada, thus sustaining the downstream eco-system.
The Head Regulator of Main Canal is an off-taking structure and is 82.6 metres long having 5 radial gates of size 12.20 metres x 13.50 metres. It is the origin of 458 kilometre long Narmada Main Canal which is one of the world’s largest concrete-lined irrigation canals with a capacity of 40,000 cubic feet/second. Annually, 11.7 billion cubic metre of water is conveyed through this canal.
Boating
Narmada, the largest west flowing river of the Peninsula, rises near Amarkantak range of mountains in Madhya Pradesh and flows into the Arabian Sea. Visitors can enjoy a boat ride at a specially designated spot on the upstream of the dam on River Narmada. The one hour boat ride takes the visitors right up to the border of Maharashtra.
Helicopter Ride
Visitors can enjoy the full splendour of the Statue of Unity by a helicopter ride. This joy ride of 10 minutes is truly exhilarating and gives a panoramic aerial view of the scenic mountain ranges, Sardar Sarovar Dam and the valleys around the Statue of Unity. The helipad built for this ride is managed by Heritage Aviation. Tickets can be booked either at the helipad or through the website of Gujarat Tourism.
Sight-seeing of historical Shoolpaneshwar Sanctuary and Temple
Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary is spread over an area of 607.70 square kilometre. It includes a major watershed feeding two major reservoirs with the Rajpipla hills as a backdrop. The thick vegetative ground cover not only provides endless greenery but also a huge habitat to a variety of life forms. The sanctuary derives its name ‘Shoolpaneshwar’ from the historic temple of Lord Shiva, which once existed in this region on the banks of river Narmada.
The flora of the ecosystem consists of semi-evergreen to moist deciduous forest. There are more than 575 species of flowering plants like Timru, Amla, Khair, Aritha, Sadad, Tanachh, Karanj, Bamboo, Mahuda, Bor, Herde, Amaltas etc. The sanctuary is a home to 32 species of mammals, several species of reptiles, 198 species of birds and many animals like sloth bear, leopard, rhesus macaque, common mongoose, Indian civet cat, Indian porcupine, four-horned antelope, barking deer, chital, pangolin, flying squirrel, python, snakes, lizards, tortoises, etc. The sanctuary has the rare distinction of having flying squirrels.
The original Shoolpaneshwar Temple was submerged due to the Sardar Sarovar Reservoir. However, a new Shoolpaneshwar temple was later built near Rajpipla. The word ‘Shoolpaneshwar’ refers to Lord Shiva portrayed as having a ‘Shool’ or ‘Trishul’ in his hand or `Pani’.
Shopping
Visitors can carry back with them several memories of their visit by buying mementos in the form of caps, t-shirts, Statue of Unity replica, etc. at the Souvenir Shop located inside of the SoU.
Cactus Garden
If you are planning to visit Chandigarh, then Cactus garden is a place you must visit. It is Asia's biggest botanical garden spread over 7 acres. This land is devoted to rare and endangered species. There are 272 species of genus Mammillaria. It naturalises 160 species and houses beautiful plants of Aloe Speciosa and Aloe Ferox varieties. The garden have almost all the species of Cactus. The garden was landscaped by Dr JS Sarkaria. All in all, Cactus garden is a place you must visit for an enriching experience.
Ekta Nursery
Ekta Nursery is being developed in the vicinity of the Statue of Unity, in line with the Hon'ble Prime Minister's vision that visitors, when they return, should take back with them seedlings as a plant of unity. Out of the one million plants targeted, 0.3 million plants are in 'ready to sell' stage and the other 0.7 million are likely to be ready soon.
Vishwa Van
Vishwa Van is a celebration of forests for their role in the existence of all life forms on earth. The Vishwa Van developed in an area of 2 hectares is situated between the two bridges next to the Statue of Unity. It has a diverse assemblage of Flora representing every continent of the world.
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