Statue of Unity at Ekta Nagar from Vadodara

The Statue of Unity rises from Sadhu Bet island in the Narmada at Ekta Nagar, formerly Kevadia, about 90 km south-east of Vadodara in Narmada District. Unveiled in October 2018, it depicts Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel - the Gujarat-born lawyer and deputy prime minister who welded more than five hundred princely states into the Indian union - and at 182 metres it became the tallest statue in the world, nearly twice the height of the Statue of Liberty. Bronze cladding over a steel frame and concrete core gives the figure its dark, weathered surface, and high-speed lifts carry visitors to a viewing gallery inside the chest at 153 metres, where floor-to-ceiling glass looks north to the Sardar Sarovar Dam and out across the Satpura and Vindhya hills. Getting there is straightforward: trains run into Ekta Nagar station, about 5 km from the monument, including a direct Jan Shatabdi from Ahmedabad and superfast services through Vadodara, with shuttle buses and autos meeting arrivals. By road it is about two hours from Vadodara through Rajpipla. Ticketing is tiered - a general entry ticket covers the precinct, exhibition hall, audio-visual gallery, Valley of Flowers and dam viewpoint, while the viewing gallery costs extra and is sold in two-hour time slots between 08:00 and 18:00, with limited capacity that makes advance booking online close to essential. An express-entry ticket skips the queues at a considerable premium. Around the statue a whole resort landscape has been built: the riverside Valley of Flowers, a cactus garden, a butterfly garden, a jungle safari zoological park, a children's nutrition park, cycling tracks and river rafting. Shuttle buses link the zones, which are spread over several kilometres. The complex closes on Mondays. October to March is the pleasant season; late afternoon gives the best light on the bronze, followed by the evening laser and projection show across the statue's face.