The chowk named after Shivaji at sector 1 Nerul was for long without a statue of the Maratha warrior. After a wait of almost nine years, the empty dome structure at the chowk is going to be consecrated with a 12 feet statue of Shivaji weighing almost 4 tonnes.
The statue to be installed within the dome has already arrived in the city and was specially sculpted by an artist from Kolhapur.
The statue is informed to be costing around 50 lakhs and will be officially installed within a fortnight. “The statue is already in the city and will be installed within 15 days. The statue is in a seated position and the cost includes the civil work that will go into the installation process ,” said the Navi Mumbai Municipal corporation city engineer Shirish Aradhwad.
The demand for having a statue of the Maratha ruler was made with Navi Mumbai Municipal corporation (NMMC) in the year 2016. “The chowk though named after the king, there was no statue placed. The dome-like structure bore a barren look. We were consistently following up with NMMC and through step by step process the required approvals from the state, decision making on the kind of statue to be installed and finally the consecration program is now outlined,” said the Devanath Mhatre of Krushna Charitable trust. The trust has been pursuing the matter with the corporation since the year 2016.
Even as the installation program is yet to be finalized, the trust recently had organized a special ceremony ahead of the consecration of the statue. “special prayers were conducted on January 1 and the area where the statue will be placed was purified with the soil and water from 14 forts from the state,” said Mhatre
The religious ceremonies were conducted by Vijay Dada Khilare, disciple of Krishnaji Nivrutti Patil, a renowned spiritual leader from Panhala , Kolhapur.
