Udupi, 15 August 2010: Home Minister Dr VS Acharya unveiled the six feet tall Gandhi statue made of fiber glass, installed at Malpe beach on Sunday. Artist Purushothama Adwe with Harish Mallappanavar and Anil from Bangalore had sculpted the six feet tall statue of Mahathma Gandhi in the sitting posture.
Dr Acharya said that Malpe beach was one of the 100 spots, where Gandhiji’s ‘Asthi’ was released to the sea. He said that Malpe also gained significance as Dwaitha Philosopher Madhwacharya brought the idol of lord Krishna from the Malpe coast. Another statue of Madhwacharya would be installed alongside the Gandhi statue, he said. He also proposed to develop Malpe as a tourist spot at a cost of Rs 10 crore.
Rs 10 lakhs have been spent on the statue and construction of its base, said Deputy Commissioner P Hemalatha. MP Sadananda Gowda, MLA Raghupathi Bhat, ZP President Gladis D Almeida, CMC President Kiran Kumar, Arun of Nirmithi Kendra were present among others.