The Triumph of Labour, also known as the Labour statue, is a statue at the Marina Beach,

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, India. Erected at the northern end of the beach at the Anna Square opposite

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigiou ...

, it is an important landmark of Chennai. The statue shows four men toiling to move a rock, depicting the hard work of the labouring class. It was sculpted by Debi Prasad Roy Chowdhury. The statue is the earliest one to be erected on the beach and is installed close to the site where the country's first commemoration of

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. T ...

was held. The statue was installed on the eve of the

Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially cal ...

in 1959, as part of the

Kamaraj Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975, hinduonnet.com. 15–28 September 2001), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras State (Tamil Nadu) ...

government's drive to beautify the beach. The statue remains the focal point of May Day celebrations in the city.

History

On a summer evening in May 1923, M. Singaravelu, a

labour union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

leader, conducted a meeting at the Marina Beach near

Triplicane Triplicane, known in the vernacular as Thiruvallikeni, is one of the oldest neighbourhoods of Chennai, India. It is situated on the Bay of Bengal coast and about from Fort St George. The average elevation of the neighbourhood is 14 metres ...

, calling for recognition of workers' rights, and pledged to create a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

to represent the rights of labourers, which was India's first ever May Day rally. To commemorate this, the Labour statue, depicting an inspiring posture of a team of

labourers A laborer (or labourer) is a person who works in manual labor types in the construction industry workforce. Laborers are in a working class of wage-earners in which their only possession of significant material value is their labor. Industries e ...

engrossed at arduous work, was sculpted by Debi Prasad Roy Chowdhury, who was the first Indian principal of the then Government of Madras School of Arts and Crafts (what is today the

Tamil Nadu Government Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, like ...

College of Fine Arts) and was erected on 25 January 1959, unveiled by the then

Governor of Madras This is a list of the governors, agents, and presidents of colonial Madras, initially of the English East India Company, up to the end of British colonial rule in 1947. English Agents In 1639, the grant of Madras to the English was finalized be ...

Bishnuram Medhi Bishnuram Medhi (24 April 1888 – 21 January 1981) was an Indian politician and freedom-fighter who served as the Chief Minister of Assam from 1950 to 1957 and Governor of Madras State from January 1958 till May 1964. Early life Bishnuram ...

. A.P. Srinivasan, a night watchman at the School of Arts and Crafts, was the model for second and fourth men from the left while Ramu, a student modeled for the other two men.

References

{{Chennai Topics Public art Monuments and memorials in Chennai Labour in India Labor monuments and memorials

History

See also

References