The earth breaking ceremony of the 16-feet tall life size statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was held here today to mark his 385th birth anniversary, commemorated as 'Shiv Jayanti'.
The Maharashtra government's official 'Shiv Jayanti' celebrations are held on February 19 each year while the Shiv Sena and many other organisations celebrate it as per the "tithi".
Yavatmal MLA Madan Yerawar conducted the ceremony for the equestrian statue that will come up in an over one acre land and will also have garden and a fountain developed around it.
Municipal council president Subhash Rai said that the estimated cost of the statue is Rs 80 lakh while development of the garden, fountain and 20x20 feet base for the statue would cost around Rs 1 crore.
He said it was a long cherished desire of people of Yavatmal to have a statue of Shivaji Maharaj and after making constant efforts, the municipal council passed an unanimous resolution to take up the matter in 2011.
Accordingly, budgetary provisions were made in the current fiscal, he said.
District guardian minister and state revenue minister Sanjay Rathod, MP Bhavana Gawali, and others were also present on the occasion.
