Statue of Unity - World's tallest Statue

We were unable to explore new places in 2019 due to Medical reason. Before we plan any long trip, we decided to visit nearby place for a couple of days. Statue of Unity was on my radar and hence we plan to visit Statue of unity followed by Nashik.
Our friend Ameya Deshpande and Wife Renu’s cousin brother Varun Joshi from Mumbai joined us.

Statue of Unity (SoU) at Sunset

About Status of Unity:

              Statue of Unity (Also known as SoU) is a statue of independence activist Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (1875–1950), who was the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of independent India. He played a major role in uniting 562 princely states of India with a major part of the former British Raj to form the single Union of India.
              The statue is World’s tallest statue located in the Kevadiya, Gujarat on the River of Narmada. The statue is facing the Sardar Sarovar Dam, which is one of the largest dams. Statue’s height is 182 meters and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated it on 143rd birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on 31 October 2018.

Sardar Sarovar Dam

Our Route:

Best Way to reach SoU by Road from Pune is Pune – Mumbai – Manor - Vapi – Valsad – Ankleshwar – Take a Right from Ankleshwar – Mulad – Take a right at Mulad – Rajpipla – Status of Unity (SoU)
SoU is also accessible from Vadodara, Bharuch and Surat. Nearest railway, the station is Vadodara and Bharuch.

20 & 21 December 2019: Pune to Statue of Unity:
             We left Pune after office time. This time, my i20 was not on the road and we drove Ameya's SUV 500. We picked up Varun from Mumbai and had dinner near Thane. We decided to drive a car turn by turn so everyone will get enough sleep. The highway was empty which made drive smooth and fast. We reached Ankleshwar by 5AM and then went towards the Statue of Unity.

               We took halt at Gurudeshwar, which is a holy place of Lord Dattatreya and situated on the bank of Narmada River. We booked a room in Dharmshala for a couple of hours to freshen up. Gurudeshwar is the place where Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharya Sree Vasudevananda Saraswathy Swamy Maharaj took his Samadhi. The Samadhi Mandir is on the banks of Narmada River. We took a Darshan of Samadhi and Holy River Narmada before moving ahead for Statue of Unity. We had Lunch and reached the Statue of Unity at 12:30PM.

Statue of Unity Ticket system:

Statue of Unity offers you three types of Tickets SoU Express Ticket, SoU Viewing Gallery and SoU entry Ticket.
1. SoU Express Ticket contain, direct entry to lift/ elevator for viewing Gallery, Museum, Light and Sound show, Sardar Sarovar Dam view and Bus service. (Cost: INR1030)
2. SoU viewing Gallery Ticket contains same as Express but the only difference is you will NOT get direct entry to lift/elevator (Wait time varies from 30 min to 90 min based on the crowd). (Cost: INR380 for Adult & INR230 for Child 3 to 15 year age)
3. SoU entry ticket contains Museum, Light and Sound show, Sardar Sarovar Dam view and Bus service. (Cost: INR 150 for adult and INR 90 for child). This ticket will not allow you to go to viewing Gallery but it will allow you to visit the museum, which is at the base of the statue.
              You can book a ticket for other activities such as River Rafting, Jungle Safari (i.e. Zoo), Cycling tours, Children Nutrition Park, Boating, Cactus & Butterfly Garden, Kevadiya Bus tour and Ekta Nursery.



             We booked SoU Express ticket to avoid rush/Queue for the elevator. Our Slot was from 4PM to 6PM but when we reached, we got to know that you can visit in any slot if you have Express Ticket. Either you can park your vehicle near Ekta Gate and then board their AC Bus service (Which is part of the ticket) OR you can take your vehicle until SoU parking. We prefer taking our own vehicle to gain the advantage of time flexibility and to avoid the queue at the Bus stop.

             Statue of Unity is visible from a few kilometre distances. SoU is engineer’s marvel and you can feel its gigantic structure when you reach the base of the statue. We took multiple pit stops to capture the beauty of the statue from different locations. There is a small walk to reach the Ticket verification Gate. After ticket scanning, you entered in the statue of Unity paved approach walkway area. Statue area divided into 5 Zones.

Statue of Unity (SoU)

          Zone 1 consist of memorial Garden, Museum and small theatre. There is moving walkway (identical to escalators but on a flat surface) and well as paved approach walkway. You can feel the world’s tallest statue. Museum area consists of detailed information on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Information on Narmada River, life around River, Dam information, Scale Model of the statue, Huge sized Face structure of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Library. The library contains a great collection of Books based on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. There is information on how magnificent statue built from October 2013 to October 2018. There is a small theatre, which displays a film on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as well as the tribal culture of the state. You need a minimum of 2 hours to see the entire Museum in detail else, within in an hr one can just get the glimpse of the statue.

            Zone 2 is the base area of the actual Statue. You reach up to Patel's toes. You can get an idea about the statue’s height as you are hardly able to match the height of the statue’s toes. Generally, people visit Zone 2 after Viewing Gallery. People with SoU entry ticket can access until this point. We clicked a lot of Photos here and tried to capture the entire Statue along with us.

            Zone 3 consist of Viewing Gallery. It is one of the prime attraction from the Statue of Unity. People with Express Ticket or SoU viewing Gallery can access the viewing Gallery. Height of viewing gallery is 153 meters. You can see the breathtaking view of Sardar Sarovar Dam.
             Zone 4 is the maintenance area whereas Zone 5 area consists of shoulders and Head section of the statue.

View from Statue of Unity Gallery

            After a beautiful visit to Statue, we went to the Valley of Flower. It is a small garden with a variety of flower plants and viewpoint for Sardar Sarovar Dam. Garden area is maintained well and it has no separate entry fee. Though there is less variety of flower, it is good to visit the place in the evening if you have spare time. We had a quick walk and then came back at Statue for evening Light and Sound show.

Make in INDIA at Valley of Flowers

           Light and Sound show starts at 7 PM (Time may change as per summer and winter). The entire tourist gathers in the evening to witness world-class Light and sound show. There are benches placed in the viewing area and you can see the show from the Garden area as well. Light and sound show explain the life journey of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and the construction journey of Statue of Unity. Definitely, it is not to miss a thing from the Statue of Unity. Post Light and sound show, we went to Gurudeshwar to stay at the ashram. There is a Budget Hotel named “RBG Budget Stay” near SoU but all Rooms were booked. We had our dinner at Pramukh Food way restaurant.

SoU at Night

Expenses:

• SoU entry: INR 1030/- for person express
• Car fuel: INR4200/-
• Express Toll: INR230/-
• Snacks and coffee: INR 300/- for 3 people at Expressway Foodcourt
• Mumbai Toll 1: INR 35/-
• Mumbai Toll 2: INR 35/-
• Dinner: Around INR 250/- per person (Food court from Mall at Thane)
• Water Bottles: INR 60/- (3 Bottles)
• GJ Toll-1: INR 70/-
• GJ Toll-2: INR 70/-
• GJ Toll-3: INR 70/-
• GJ Toll-4: INR 60/-
• GJ Toll-5: INR 70/-
• Room charge at Gurudeshwar Ashram: INR 400/- (for 4 person room)
• Car parking at SoU: INR 150/-
• Snacks at SoU: INR 250/- for 4 people (Thepale, Samosa and Dhokla etc)
• Water and Cold drink: INR200/-
• Dinner: INR 890/- for 4 person
• Stay at Gurudeshwar Ashram: INR 700/- for four-person as we got 7-bed dormitory.

23 December 2019: Statue of Unity to Nashik:

             We woke up by 7AM and again processed towards the Statue of Unity. Yesterday we get to know about Ekta Nursery, Zarwani Waterfall, butterfly Garden and Cactus Garden. We went to Kevadiya Village to try some local breakfast item. Our first destination was Ekta Nursery. They have a variety of plants, Bonsai plants, Bamboo products and canteen, which serves local Food. It was quick to visit before we processed towards Butterfly Garden and Cactus Garden.

Local Food at Breakfast

At Ekta Nasurry

             Cactus Garden and Butterfly garden are located at the same place with common entry. The butterfly garden is an open garden with specific plants where different types of Butterfly Grow. They claim to have more than 30 species of butterfly (few species grow as per weather and season). We are able to spot around 10 species. You can see a variety of Butterfly from a close distance. Butterflies feed on the nectar of flowers hence there are a lot of flowering plants to provide them food. There are some information board, which explains which type of butterfly lives on plats. I personally feel that there should be more information on the butterfly.

Tawny Coster Butterfly

Plain Tiger Butterfly

Jezebel Butterfly (Top), Blue Tiger Butterfly (Left) and Common Crow(Right)

           Cactus garden has a huge variety of cactus plants. Some of them are from different part of the world. It is hard to believe that Cactus has such a beautiful shape and design. The entire garden is maintained very well. There is a watchtower built to see the Sardar Sarovar Dam. After Cactus Garden, we went to Zarwani waterfall. It is around 10-11 km from Cactus Garden. The road is narrow and goes through dense forest. From the parking area, you have to walk around for 1 km to reach a Waterfall. Zarwani waterfall is small in size but beautiful. There are a couple of huts to stay near a waterfall and small Adventure Park having games like Rappelling, zip line, climbing wall etc.

(From Top left to right) Golden Barrel Cactus, cactus at Cactus Garde, Gymnocalycium mihanovichii (Red Flower), Cereus jamacaru (Bottom left), Rebutia heliosa (Bottom Middle), Mammillaria elongata (Bottom Right)

Zarwani Waterfall

            Our last halt before we leave the status of Unity was Ekta Mall. It is located near Ekta gate from where Bus service is available for the statue. Ekta Mall has multiple shops, which offers you a handicraft product from different part of India. Besides Ekta Mall, there is an attraction “children nutrition park”. Its small toy train journey, which takes halt at few stations. Each station is theme base station, which gives information on nutrition, food processing and horticulture. A couple of stations are equipped with games and virtual reality playing area.

Children Nutrition Park

            By 4 PM, We left Status of Unity. We reached Nashik safely after 8 hours of comfortable Drive. I will upload Separate Blog on Nashik City, which we tried to explore in the next 3 days.

Expenses:

• Breakfast at Kevadiya: INR 160/-
• Tea & coffee: INR 40/- (2 tea n 2 Coffee)
• Ekta Nursery entry fee: INR 120/- for 4 people
• Entry Fee for Butterfly & cactus: INR 160/-
• Lunch at Galaxy restaurant: 580/-
• Coffee: INR 45/- 3 coffees
• Water: INR 40/-
• Dinner: INR 480/-

I will try to upload more and more travel blogs. Thanks for reading this Travel Blog.

Pritesh Kulkarni

Pune