Berhampur: India’s second tallest National Emblem with four lion heads will adorn the Army Air Defence College at Gopalpur in Odisha’s Ganjam district.
The tallest National Emblem cast in bronze was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the roof of the new Parliament Building at New Delhi on July 11.
Raj Kumar Behera, a sculpture from Berhampur, has carved it in fiberglass. When the height of the National Emblem cast on the roof of the new Parliament Building at New Delhi is 20 feet, the National Emblem to be unveiled at Air Defence College in Gopalpur is 13 feet. The cost of the 13-feet high National Emblem cast is Rs 3 lakh.
“It took me 40 days to carve the National Emblem cast while 10 others supported me. First, I made a miniature National Emblem cast and later we opted for the bigger one,” said Raj Kumar.
President Draupadi Murmu is scheduled to unveil the National Emblem in Gopalpur, sources said.
The four lion heads on the National Emblem symbolise power, courage, confidence and pride. The National Emblem cast is modelled on the lions of the Ashokan pillar at Sarnath.
The Ashokan pillar at Sarnath was buried and remained forgotten for centuries until British archaeologists dug it up in 1905. Decades later, as the Constituent Assembly of independent India looked around for a national symbol, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru tasked Badruddin Tyabji, a civil services officer, with finding one. His wife Surayya Tyabji drew the first draft of the emblem.
