Ambedkar Memorial Park, formally known as Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Prateek Sthal, is a public park and memorial in Gomti Nagar,

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and divis ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

, India. The memorial is dedicated to B. R. Ambedkar, the 20th century Indian

polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...

and the first law minister of India. The park also honors the lives and memories of Jyotirao Phule,

Narayana Guru Narayana Guru, , (20 August 1856 – 20 September 1928) was a philosopher, spiritual leader and social reformer in India. He led a reform movement against the injustice in the caste-ridden society of Kerala in order to promote spiritu ...

Birsa Munda Birsa Munda (15 November 1875 – 9 June 1900) was an Indian tribal freedom fighter, and folk hero who belonged to the Munda tribe. He spearheaded a tribal religious millenarian movement that arose in the Bengal Presidency (now Jharkhand) i ...

, Shahuji Maharaj, and

Kanshi Ram Kanshi Ram (15 March 1934 – 9 October 2006), also known as Bahujan Nayak or Manyavar or Saheb, was an Indian politician and social reformer who worked for the upliftment and political mobilisation of the Bahujans, the backward or lower cast ...

. The park also has 124 monumental elephants. The memorial was constructed by

Mayawati Kumari Mayawati (born 15 January 1956) is an Indian politician. She has served four separate terms as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. She is the national president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which focuses on a platform of social cha ...

, the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, during her administration when she led the

Bahujan Samaj Party The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is a national level political party in India that was formed to represent Bahujans (literally means "community in majority"), referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBC), al ...

History

The foundation stone of the memorial was first laid in 1995. Earlier, the park was named Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Udyan. In 2002, it was renamed the Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial and development work continued until 2002-03. In 2007, the park underwent further renovation and development. It was initially opened to the public on 14 April 2008 by Chief Minister Mayawati. The entire memorial is built using red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...

brought from

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...

. It is situated in the posh locality of Gomti Nagar, the largest planned residential colony in India. Cost of the memorial is estimated at 7 billion rupees. Its name was changed from Ambedkar Park to Bhimrao Ambedkar memorial in May 2012.

Features

There are several sites comprising the memorial park.

Ambedkar Stupa

This construction is the heart of the entire memorial. The sanctum sanctorum consists of many statues depicting the biography of Ambedkar. There are four doors in opposite directions. This is a construction in the shape of a flower bearing four petals. There is a bronze statue of Ambedkar seated in a chair, facing towards the two domes. The Ambedkar statue was modeled on the sculpture of Abraham Lincoln at the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial built to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument, and is in ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. At the base of the statue a message in Hindi reads:

Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sangrahalay

Opposite to the Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial is the Sangrahalay (

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

), constructed over an area of about 2.5 acre (11,008 sq.m.). The building has two domes on top. It contains large statues of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj, Shri Narayan Guru, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar and Shri Kanshiram. Another building consists of 18-foot tall marble statues of Tathagat Gautam Buddha, Sant Kabir Das,

Sant Ravidas Ravidas or Raidas, was an Indian mystic poet-saint of the bhakti movement during the 15th to 16th century CE. Venerated as a ''guru'' (teacher) in the modern regions of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punj ...

, Guru Ghasidas and Shri Birsa Munda.

Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Gallery

Constructed in an area of 4 acres (16,207 sq.m.), this place has murals made of bronze.

Pratibimb Sthal

Pratibimb Sthal is the main entrance to the memorial guarded by statues of 62 elephants either side.

Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial Drashya Sthal

Constructed on an 80-foot pyramid type structure on the back of Pratibimb Sthal, the Drashya Sthal offers a vantage point from where the park, shrines, structures and sites integrate as a view of the whole area. The flow of water from the top of the pyramid entertains visitors.

Vandalism

On 26 July 2012 a statue in the park was damaged by members of a group calling themselves "Uttar Pradesh Nav Nirman Sena". A replacement statue was re-installed overnight by the Lucknow city administration.

Film shooting

In the

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...

film ''

Youngistaan ''Youngistaan'' () is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language political film directed by Syed Ahmad Afzal. It stars Jackky Bhagnani, Neha Sharma and Farooq Sheikh with Kayoze Irani appears in a special appearance and Boman Irani appears in a cameo appearan ...

'' (2014) actors

Jackky Bhagnani Jackky Bhagnani (born 25 December 1984) is an Indian actor, film producer and entrepreneur. Early life Bhagnani was born in Kolkata, West Bengal in India to a Sindhi family. After schooling, he got a degree in commerce from H.R. College of Comm ...

and Neha Sharma shot in Ambedkar Memorial Park and were surprised with its vast scale. After permission for shooting outside the memorial in March 2014,

Aditya Roy Kapur Aditya Roy Kapur (born 16 November 1985) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Hindi films. He made his acting debut in 2009 with the musical drama film ''London Dreams''. Kapur had his first commercial success came with the romantic mu ...

and

Parineeti Chopra Parineeti Chopra (; born 22 October 1988) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi films. Chopra is a recipient of several accolades, including a Filmfare and a National Film Award. She has appeared in ''Forbes India'' Celebrity 10 ...

shot for "Rangreli" song of film '' Daawat-e-Ishq''. In November 2015,

Ravi Kishan Ravi Kishan Shukla (; born 17 July 1969), popularly known as Ravi Kishan, is an Indian actor, politician, film producer and television personality. He currently serves as Member of parliament, Lok Sabha from Gorakhpur. His film works are predo ...

shot for a Bhojpuri film at Ambedkar Memorial Park. In February 2016,

Mika Singh Mika Singh (born 10 June 1977) is an Indian singer. His songs include "Bas Ek King" ('' Singh Is Kinng''), "Mauja Hi Mauja" ('' Jab We Met''), "Ibn-e-Batuta" (''Ishqiya''), and "Dhanno" ('' Housefull''). He has released several solo albums and ...

and Urvashi Rautela also shot for their new music video named ''Lal Dupatta Kurta Chikan Ka'' just outside the Memorial In 2017, the song "Jogi" from the movie ''

Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana ''Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana'' () is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language romance-drama comedy film directed by Ratnaa Sinha. The film features Rajkummar Rao and Kriti Kharbanda in lead roles, while K. K. Raina, Alka Amin, Vipin Sharma, Govind Namdev, ...

'', starring

Rajkumar Rao Rajkummar Rao (born Raj Kumar Yadav; 31 August 1984) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi films. He has appeared in more than 30 films since 2010, and is the recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award, three ...

and

Kriti Kharbanda Kriti Kharbanda (born 29 October 1990) is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Kannada, Hindi and Telugu language films. After beginning her career as a model, she made her acting debut with the Telugu film '' Boni'' (2009) and her Kann ...

was shot here. In 2017 small part of Movie '' Bareilly Ki Barfi'' starring Ayushman Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao and Kriti Sanon was also shot here.

Legal issues

Since 2009 the memorial has been involved in a legal battle. In June 2009 the Supreme Court issued a stay against further building on the project, until the

Public Interest Litigation The chief instrument through which judicial activism has flourished in India is public interest litigation (PIL) or social action litigation (SAL). ''Public interest litigation'' (PIL) refers to litigation undertaken to secure public interest and de ...

(PLI) questioning these expenditure was settled. Despite initially denying even maintenance costs, in December 2010, the Uttar Pradesh government received permission to perform maintenance and completion of the park. On 2018, the

Allahabad High Court Allahabad High Court, also known as High Court of Judicature at Allahabad is the high court based in Prayagraj that has jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 17 March 1866, making it one of the oldest high ...

asked the Uttar Pradesh government to provide the status report on the vigilance department's investigation in connection with the alleged Rs 1,410 crore memorial scam involving this monument.

Gallery

File:Ambedkar Park Lucknow.JPG, Inside view of Ambedkar Park in Night File:B.R. Ambedkar statue at Ambedkar Park.JPG, Statue of B.R. Ambedkar inside Ambedkar Park, Lucknow File:Ambedkar Udyaan Lucknow Left Dome.JPG, Morning View of Park File:The Middle Portion with the right Dome in the Backdrop.JPG, Night View File:Right Side Pillers at the entrance.jpg, Pillars at Night View File:Ambedkar Park, Lucknow, India.jpg, View from outside File:IMG-20200113-WA0048.jpg, Middle View File:Ambedkar Memorial Park-Lucknow-Uttar Pradesh-MA21.jpg, Ambedkar Memorial Park, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh File:Ambedkar Memorial Park-Lucknow-Uttar Pradesh-MA22.jpg, Ambedkar Memorial Park, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

References

External links

Ambedkar Memorial, Gomti Nagar @ Wikimapia

Photos of Ambedkar Udyan Memorial, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh @ panoramia

The saga of Ambedkar memorial

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest s ...

, TNN, 21 June 2002, 12.36 am IST
Thousands throng Ambedkar Memorial

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split be ...

, Express News Service, Mon 7 December 2009, 01:47 hrs {{Authority control Dalit monuments Bahujan Samaj Party Buildings and structures in Lucknow Monuments and memorials in Uttar Pradesh Memorials to B. R. Ambedkar Gardens in Lucknow 2008 establishments in Uttar Pradesh Buildings and structures completed in 2008 Statues of B. R. Ambedkar Memorial parks Sculpture gardens, trails and parks in India