The ''Big Bull'' is a bronze sculpture of a charging bull designed by

Solapur Solapur () is a city located in the south-western region of the States and Territories of India, Indian state of Maharashtra, close to its border with Karnataka. Solapur is located on major highway, rail routes between Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore ...

-based sculptor Bhagwan Rampure and was originally located inside the premises of the

Bombay Stock Exchange BSE Limited, also known as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), is an Indian stock exchange based in Mumbai. It is the 6th largest stock exchange in the world by total market capitalization, exceeding $5 trillion in May 2024. Established with t ...

(BSE) on

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, India. The sculpture was installed outside the building of Bombay Stock Exchange on 11 January 2008. The bull is inspired by

Arturo Di Modica Arturo Di Modica (January 26, 1941February 19, 2021) was an Italian sculptor, widely known for his ''Charging Bull'' sculpture. English sculptor Henry Moore nicknamed Di Modica “the young Michelangelo” after they met in Italy in the 1960s. ...

's ''

Charging Bull ''Charging Bull'' (sometimes referred to as the ''Bull of Wall Street'' or the ''Bowling Green Bull'') is a bronze sculpture that stands on Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway just north of Bowling Green (New York City), Bowling Green in the Financ ...

'' sculpture that was installed on

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

outside the

New York Stock Exchange Building The New York Stock Exchange Building (also NYSE Building) is the headquarters of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), located in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is composed of two co ...

in 1989. The ''Big Bull'' is tall, long and weighs . It was relocated to the

Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Gujarat International Finance Tec-City also called GIFT City, is a central business district under construction in the Gandhinagar district as suburb city of Ahmedabad in Ahmedabad Metropolitan Region in Gujarat, India. It is India's first ope ...

(GIFT City) near

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

in 2017. On April 27, 2023 a replica of Big bull is installed on the outskirts of Dalal Street with RK Laxmans Common man Statue.

Design

Rampure was approached by officials of the BSE in 2007 to design the sculpture. He was given photographs of the original sculpture in New York City and studied live bulls to understand their anatomy. A clay model was first designed for the BSE's approval following which the bronze version was made. It was made in four parts owing to its size and took Rampure three months to design and build. While he was allowed to make a few changes to the design, the original pose of the bull was retained owing to the animal's identity in stock markets as a symbol of money. The BSE later commissioned him to create a thousand miniature replicas made of fibre to be given as souvenirs to visiting foreign dignitaries.

Controversy

The sculpture came into news after the stock market crash of January 2008, when the Sensex lost 14% in two days and in a week, along its year-long descent from 20,000 to 8,000. The bull was subsequently considered as a ''panvati'' or bad omen. Several brokers demanded the removal of the sculpture during the crash, with an astrologer suggesting that it be re-installed at a more auspicious time. A group of 200 to 300 brokers protested outside the exchange for a day asking for it to be removed. In 2017, prior to its relocation to GIFT City, the BSE decided to allow visitors to photograph the bull. However, due to security issues, it was replaced by an acrylic replica on rollers outside the exchange. The

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(MCGM) objected to this, claiming that it was inconveniencing people on the road and asked for it to be removed.

References

{{reflist Sculptures of cattle Fictional bulls 2008 sculptures Bronze sculptures in India 2008 establishments in Maharashtra Bombay Stock Exchange