The Marjing Polo Statue ( mni, Marjing Sagol Kangjei Mitam) is a colossal classical equestrian statue of a player of , riding a Meitei horse ( Manipuri pony), constructed at the Marjing Polo Complex, the sacred sports site dedicated to God Marjing, the ancient Meitei deity of

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

and

horses The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

, in Heingang, Imphal East District, . It is the world's tallest statue of a

player. It is built to commemorate the game of "modern polo" being originated from .

Description

The Marjing Polo Statue is tall. The cost of construction of the statue is . The gigantic polo statue stands above a pedestal of a three-

storey A storey (British English) or story (American English) is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). Plurals for the word are ''storeys'' (UK) and ''stories'' (US). T ...

building, with recreational facilities. The statue's inner structure is made of

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

and its outer surface is covered by

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

. Its design is prepared by Professor Somnath Ghose of Jadavpur University. Previously, during January-April 2016, the

Government of Manipur The Government of Manipur ( mni, Manipur Leingak; /mə.ni.pur lə́i.ŋak/), also known as the State Government of Manipur, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Manipur and its 16 districts. ...

planned to build the statue with a height of at the construction cost of . Prior to the construction of the statue, a roadway was made up to the base of the place where the statue was to be built, for which permission was granted to the construction team by the

Ministry of Environment and Forest The ''Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change'' ( bn, পরিবেশ, বন ও জলবায়ু পরিবর্তন মন্ত্রণালয়; ''Paribēś, bana o jalabayou paribarton mantraṇālaẏa'') is a ...

Inauguration

On 6 January 2023, the Marjing Polo Statue was inaugurated by

Amit Shah Amit Anil Chandra Shah (born 22 October 1964) is an Indian politician currently serving as the Minister of Home Affairs since 2019 and the first Minister of Co-operation of India since 2021. He served as the President of the Bharatiya Janata P ...

, the then Minister of Home Affairs of the Union Government of India, in the presence of Nongthombam Biren, the then

Chief Minister of Manipur The chief minister of Manipur is the chief executive of the Indian state of Manipur. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following ele ...

, at a function organised by the Department of Tourism,

. Regarding the inauguration, Amit Shah stated:

Significance

Nongthombam Biren, the

, said that the 122 feet tall Marjing polo statue will ''"highlight the significance of the birthplace of Polo and revive the glory of Manipur"''. He also stressed the significance of the statue, being the tallest and the biggest polo statue, inaugurated in recognition of Sagol Kangjei, ,

Arambai Arambai, also known as Alapai tenton (meaning ''arrowhead flew in distance''), is a dart weapon used by the Meitei cavalry soldiers of Kangleipak while mounted on Manipur Ponies. The cavalry armies use arambai as attacking or retreating weapon ...

, etc.

Notes

References

External links