The capital of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, is preparing for the inauguration of another memorial park, the Rashtriya Prerna Sthal, in the coming days.
Spread over 65 acres, the Rashtriya Prerna Sthal houses 65-feet tall statues of three icons of the BJP and its forerunner Jana Sangh – former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Syama Prasad Mookerjee – which is likely to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 25, Vajpayee’s birth anniversary.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has called upon the BJP workers to celebrate Vajpayee’s birth anniversary across the state.
Here is a look at some major memorial parks set up in Lucknow during the regimes of different parties.
Rashtriya Prerna Sthal
A lotus-shaped memorial park in the Basant Kunj area, the memorial has been built by the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) at a cost of over Rs 100 crore.
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“The site stands as a reminder of India’s history and its fight for freedom, showcasing the efforts and sacrifices made by various leaders and revolutionaries. The Rashtra Prerna Sthal is designed to honour Syama Prasad Mookerjee ji, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji and Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji, who played pivotal roles in India’s Independence movement and afterwards,” says the LDA about this park on its website.
The project, along with well-planned gardens will not only house an open air theatre, multi-purpose halls, helipads, flag hoisting areas and a cafeteria but will also have a huge rally ground that would accommodate 1 lakh people and parking areas.
A Rs 65-crore museum, showcasing the contributions and ideology of the three leaders, with a holographic theatre, audio-visual hall, 3D project mapping, thematic art works as well as light and sound show will be a part of the project.
According to officials, the museum is being developed in five thematic zones – arrival gallery, corridor display area, digital display gallery, outdoor display gallery and three individual galleries dedicated to Vajpayee, Upadhyay and Mookerjee.
Lohia Park (2005)
Spread over 76 acres, the Lohia park is dedicated to socialist icons and was inaugurated in 2005 when Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav was the CM.
The park houses a 25-metre statue of socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia while its walls are engraved with his ideology. The columns in the park are dedicated to the life and work of other socialist stalwarts like Madhu Limaye, Raj Narayan, Karpoori Thakur, Badri Vishal Pitti, Mama Baleshwal Dayal and Ram Sevak Yadav.
Janeshwar Mishra Park (2014)
While the foundation stone of this park, spread over 76 acres, was laid during SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s tenure as the CM in 2012, it was inaugurated in 2014, built at a cost of Rs 168 crore.
A huge statue of Janeshwar Mishra, often referred to as “Chhote Lohia”, serves as the centre point of the park which also has green spaces and a recreational area.
Mayawati tenures
The state capital witnessed the construction of several memorials during the four stints of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati as the CM between 1995 and 2012.
Most of these were dedicated to Dalit icons, some featuring the murals and statues of not just BSP founder Kanshi Ram and Mayawati but also of the elephant, the party’s symbol.
Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal or Ambedkar Park (2008)
Spread over 123 acres in Lucknow’s Gomtinagar, the project was conceptualised in 1995 under the brief Mayawati regime but took final shape when the BSP came to power with a full majority in 2007.
Built with an estimated Rs 3,000 crore, the project houses a 6.5-acre memorial of Ambedkar with his statues and murals, and also has a social change museum featuring statues and murals of Jyotiba Phule, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj, and Kanshi Ram.
The major highlight of this park, which is built with pink stone as well as granite, is the elephant gallery that has 62 large stone elephants installed on either side.
Kanshi Ram Smarak Sthal (2009)
This project, which was undertaken during Mayawati’s 2007-2012 reign as the CM, is spread over 86 acres in Lucknow. Inaugurated in 2009, it houses an 18-feet tall bronze statue of Kanshi Ram and bronze murals depicting his life. It also has a statue of Mayawati and has huge elephants installed outside.