A 300-feet high statue of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji will be erected in the Arabian Sea, facing the Marine Drive, in south Mumbai.
Though there are several statues of the revered Maratha king, this huge statue surrounded by a garden and with a museum, will be unique and aims at making it a landmark in the country's financial capital.
The statue will depict Chhatrapati Shivaji mounted on a horse, like other statues of the warrior dotting the city.
Soon after clearing the proposal, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said that global tenders will be invited for the ambitious project, which will be constructed along the lines of the Statue of Liberty in New York.
The clearance came when the Maharashtra government on Monday reviewed the implementation of the electoral promises made by the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party coalition in 2004. The statue was one of the promises made in the manifesto.
"The site for the statue has been finalised, a kilometer in the Arabian Sea, between Malabar Hill and Nariman Point," Deshmukh said.
The chief minister also visited the proposed site.
The city already has its international airport, museum and its historic rail terminus, originally the Victoria Terminus, named after the Maratha warrior king.
The king, who used guerilla warfare to establish the Maratha empire in the Sahyadri mountain range in the 17th century, already has statues dedicated to him at the historic Gateway of India, the international airport and the suburban Juhu seafront.
The 300-feet high statue will be a major tourist attraction in the city. A museum is also being planned by the state government to explain the Maratha history.
The plan also includes a mini theatre near the statue to screen short movies on the life of Shivaji Maharaj, an official from Mantralaya said.
